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Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2014 

https://archive.org/details/christiandoctrinOOschu 


Christian  Htoctrfne 

AND 

Systematic  ZLbeology 


J  m 

Augustus  ScbUlt3C  D.      X.  t>.  2)., 

President  Moravian  College  and  Theological  Seminary, 
Author  of    Theology  of  Peter  and  Paul,''  "Books  of  the  Bible  Analyzed," 
"Essentials  of  the  Christian  Faith,"  etc. 


SECOND  EDITION.  REVISED. 


BETHLEHEM  PA 
Bethlehem  Printing  Company 
1914 


preface  to  tbe  jfirst  Coition. 

The  pages  of  this  volume  contain  the  substance  of  lectures 
on  Systematic  Theology  which  have  been  given  by  the 
writer,  for  nearly  forty  years,  to  successive  classes  of 
students  at  the  Moravian  College  and  Theological  Seminary 
of  Bethlehem,  Pa.  It  is  the  first  work  of  this  kind  written 
in  the  English  language  by  a  member  of  the  oldest  Protes- 
tant Church,  founded  by  the  followers  of  John  Hus  in  1457. 
While  in  no  sense  an  official  publication,  but  entirely  inde- 
pendent and  personal  in  its  statements  and  conclusions,  it 
will  be  found  to  represent  fairly  the  view-point  of  the  Mo- 
ravian Church  or  TJnitas  Fratrum,  as  to  the  leading 
features  of  Christian  Doctrine  and  Systematic  Theology. 

Some  persons  may  think  it  ill  advised  to  publish  such  a 
work  at  this  time  of  theological  unrest  and  of  apparently 
sharp  contrasts  between  traditional  and  modern  theology. 
But  as  to  all  that  is  really  essential  in  Christian  doctrine, 
it  is  as  timely  now  as  ever,  "to  contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith  which  was  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the  saints" 
(Jude  v.  3).  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  blessed 
Saviour,  is  as  well  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury of  the  Christian  era  as  to  the  first.  As  for  non- 
essentials, such  as  denominational  distinctions,  ecclesiastical 
formulas,  dogmatical  definitions  and  historical  criticism,  it 
behooves  all  honest  seekers  after  the  truth,  whether  they 
call  themselves  orthodox  or  liberal,  conservative  or  ad- 
vanced, to  acknowledge  the  limitations  of  our  religious 
knowledge  and  understanding.  For  at  best  "we  know  in 
part  and  we  see  in  a  mirror  darkly"  (I  Cor.  13:9,  12). 
Realizing  this  truth,  we  will  be  prepared  to  discuss  all  ques- 
tions that  present  themselves  in  the  different  departments 
of  Christian  doctrine,  in  the  spirit  of  "charity,"  without 
narrow  prejudice  or  assumption  of  a  monopoly  of  wisdom, 
taking  into  consideration,  if  possible,  all  the  new  light 
which  science,  history  and  Christian  experience  have  shed 


preface  to  tbe  jftrst  EoMon. 

The  pages  of  this  volume  contain  the  substance  of  lectures 
on  Systematic  Theology  which  have  been  given  by  the 
writer,  for  nearly  forty  years,  to  successive  classes  of 
students  at  the  Moravian  College  and  Theological  Seminary 
of  Bethlehem,  Pa.  It  is  the  first  work  of  this  kind  written 
in  the  English  language  by  a  member  of  the  oldest  Protes- 
tant Church,  founded  by  the  followers  of  John  Hus  in  1457. 
While  in  no  sense  an  official  publication,  but  entirely  inde- 
pendent and  personal  in  its  statements  and  conclusions,  it 
will  be  found  to  represent  fairly  the  view-point  of  the  Mo- 
ravian Church  or  Unitas  Fratrum,  as  to  the  leading 
features  of  Christian  Doctrine  and  Systematic  Theology. 

Some  persons  may  think  it  ill  advised  to  publish  such  a 
work  at  this  time  of  theological  unrest  and  of  apparently 
sharp  contrasts  between  traditional  and  modern  theology. 
But  as  to  all  that  is  really  essential  in  Christian  doctrine, 
it  is  as  timely  now  as  ever,  "to  contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith  which  was  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the  saints" 
(Jude  v.  3).  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  blessed 
Saviour,  is  as  well  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury of  the  Christian  era  as  to  the  first.  As  for  non- 
essentials, such  as  denominational  distinctions,  ecclesiastical 
formulas,  dogmatical  definitions  and  historical  criticism,  it 
behooves  all  honest  seekers  after  the  truth,  whether  they 
call  themselves  orthodox  or  liberal,  conservative  or  ad- 
vanced, to  acknowledge  the  limitations  of  our  religious 
knowledge  and  understanding.  For  at  best  "we  know  in 
part  and  we  see  in  a  mirror  darkly"  (I  Cor.  13:9,  12). 
Bealizing  this  truth,  we  will  be  prepared  to  discuss  all  ques- 
tions that  present  themselves  in  the  different  departments 
of  Christian  doctrine,  in  the  spirit  of  "charity,"  without 
narrow  prejudice  or  assumption  of  a  monopoly  of  wisdom, 
taking  into  consideration,  if  possible,  all  the  new  light 
which  science,  history  and  Christian  experience  have  shed 


iv 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


upon  the  old  established  beliefs.  The  writer  claims  but 
little  originality.  The  thoughts  and  expressions  of  other 
men  have  been  freely  assimilated  and  used,  and  it  is  not 
possible  to  credit  them  individually.  Our  guiding  principle 
is  the  motto  of  the  Moravian  Bishop  and  educator, 
Comenius:  "In  essentials  unity,  in  non-essentials  liberty, 
in  all  things  charity." 

That  the  publication  of  this  work  may  redound  to  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  furtherance  of  His  kingdom,  is  the 
earnest  wish  and  prayer  of 

The  Author. 

Go  tbe  Secono  EMtion. 

After  the  greater  part  of  the  first  edition  of  this  book  had 
been  sold,  the  remainder  was  consumed  by  fire  in  the  partial 
destruction  of  Comenius  Hall,  of  the  Moravian  College.  It 
was,  therefore,  desirable  that  a  second  edition  be  published 
of  this  volume,  which  is  used  as  a  text-bok  in  several  theo- 
logical Seminaries.  As  we  have  quoted  very  few  authorities 
for  the  opinions  expressed  on  the  various  articles  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  outside  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  it  seems  proper 
to  mention  some  of  the  books  on  Systematic  Theology  which 
have  been  consulted.  A  list  of  such  works,  for  reference, 
will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 

The  Author. 


Contents. 


fntroouctfon. 

Chapter  I.    The  Scope  of  Christian  Doctrine   1 

1.  Dogmatics.     2.  Theology.     3.  Systematic  Theol- 
ogy.   4.  Relation  to  other  branches. 

Chapter  II.    Religion    4 

1.  What  is  religion.    2.  Subjective  aspect  of  religion. 
3.  The  object  of  religion.    4.  False  religions. 

Chapter  III.    The  Existence  of  God    7 

1.  An  axiom  of  religious  truth.  2.  Doubt  and  denial. 
3.  The  positive  proof  (cosmological,  anthropological, 
ontological  arguments).    4.  The  negative  proof. 

Chapter  IV.    Revelation  of  God   10 

1.  Need  of  a  divine  revelation.  2.  Actuality  of  reve- 
lation. 3.  Objective  evidence  (personal  manifesta- 
tion, prophecy).    4.  Subjective  evidence. 

Chapter  V.    The  Bible  as  the  Standard  of  Christian 
Doctrine    13 


1.  Need  of  a  standard.  2.  The  books  of  the  Bible. 
3.  Their  integrity.  4.  Authenticity  and  authority. 
5.  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  6.  Distinctions  and 
limitations.  7.  Difference  between  Roman  and  Pro- 
testant standpoints. 

Chapter  VI.    Summary  of  the  History  of  Christian 

Doctrine    21 

1.  The  early  Church.  2.  Middle  Ages.  3.  Reforma- 
tion times.  4.  The  seventeenth  century.  5.  The 
eighteenth  century.    6.  The  nineteenth  century. 

Part  JFlrBt— ©oo  tbe  Creator. 

Chapter  VII.  The  Nature  and  Attributes  of  God.  ...  31 
1.  Can  we  know  God?  2.  Oneness  of  God.  3. 
Methods  of  defining  the  nature  of  God.  4.  The  per- 
sonality of  God.  5.  Metaphysical  attributes  (eter- 
nal, unchangeable,  omnipresent,  omniscient,  al- 
mighty). 6.  Moral  attributes  (holy,  righteous, 
kind,  merciful). 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Chapter  VIII.    The  Holy  Trinity   36 

1.  The  idea  of  the  Trinity.  2.  The  Biblical  testi- 
mony. 3.  Relation  and  work  of  the  three  (of  the 
Father,  of  the  Son,  of  the  Spirit).  4.  Church  con- 
troversies.   5.  Illustrations  and  practical  aspect. 

Chapter  IX.    The  Creation  of  the  World   44 

1.  The  meaning  of  creation.  2.  The  object  of  crea- 
tion. 3.  Creation  and  evolution.  4.  The  Mosaic 
record. 

Chapter  X.    The  Government  of  the  World   47 

1.  Preservation.      2.  Providence.      3.  Miracles.  4. 
The  divine  decrees. 

Chapter  XI.    The  Angels   51 

1.  Existence  of  angels.  2.  Nature  of  angels.  3. 
Relation  to  man.  4.  General  work.  5.  Present  em- 
ployment. 6.  Guardian  angels  and  worship  of  an- 
gels.   7.  Value  of  the  doctrine  of  angels. 

Chapter  XII.    Origin  and  Nature  of  Man   56 

1.  Origin.  2.  Antiquity.  3.  Nature  of  man.  4. 
Unity  of  the  race.  5.  Origin  of  the  individual  soul 
(pre-existence,  creation,  propagation). 

Chapter  XIII.    The  State  of  Mankind  in  Paradise..  62 
1.  The  image  of  God.    2.  Intellectual  condition.  3. 
Moral  condition.     4.  Physical  condition.     5.  Exer- 
cise of  man's  powers. 

©art  SeconO— Sin. 

Chapter  XIV.    Evil  Spirits   67 

1.  Their  existence.  2.  The  origin  of  evil.  3.  Nature 
of  evil  spirits.  4.  General  activity.  5.  Value  of  the 
doctrine  of  evil  spirits. 

Chapter  XV.    The  Fall  of  Man    74 

1.  The  nature  of  human  sin  (sensuous,  limitation, 
antagonistic  theory,  Scriptural  definition).  2.  The 
temptation.  3.  Immediate  effects  of  the  fall.  4. 
Why  was  the  fall  not  prevented? 

Chapter  XVI.    Universality  and  Guilt  of  Sin   80 

1.  The  inherited  depravity.  2.  The  Pelagian  heresy. 
3.  The  universality  of  sin  (co-extensive  with  race, 
a  radical  evil,  propagated).  4.  Theories  of  imputa- 
tion (natural  head  theory,  federal  head,  pre-exist- 
ence, mediate,  no  imputation).  5.  The  question  of 
responsibility.    6.  Personal  guilt. 


CONTENTS.  Vii 


Chapter  XVII.    The  Growth  of  Sin  and  its  Successive 

Stages    87 

1.  Not  all  equally  sinful.  2.  The  power  of  sin.  3. 
Classification  of  sins.  4.  Stages  of  sin  (discord, 
slavery,  false  security,  hardening  of  the  heart)..  5. 
Sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Chapter  XVIII.    The  Penalty  of  Sin   92 

1.  Why  sin  is  punished.  2.  Degrees  of  punishment 
(evil  conscience,  physical  or  social  pain,  bodily 
death).  3.  Punishment  as  a  means  of  grace.  4. 
Future  punishment. 

Gbico  part— Gbrist  tbe  Saviour. 

Chapter  XIX.    The  Plan  of  Salvation   96 

1.  Salvation  possible.  2.  God's  gracious  purpose.  3. 
Theories  of  predestination  (Supralapsarianism,  sub- 
lapsarianism,  conditional  redemption,  resistance  the- 
ory, Arminian).  4.  Arguments  for  and  against  un- 
conditional predestination.    5.  Conclusion. 

Chapter  XX.    The  Time  of  Preparation   101 

1.  Two  covenants  (of  works,  of  grace).  2.  Prepara- 
tion of  the  Gentiles.  3.  Preparation  of  Israel  (Pa- 
triarchal, Mosaic,  Prophetic  period).  4.  The  promise 
of  Messiah.     5.  The  fullness  of  time. 

Chapter  XXL    The  Person  of  Christ   109 

1.  Jesus  the  Messiah  (Christ).  2.  The  Son  of  man. 
3.  The  Son  of  God.  4.  Christ  a  divine-human  per- 
son. 5.  Why  the  Saviour  must  be  devine-human.  6. 
Theories  at  variance  with  the  orthodox  creed 
(Ebionitism,  Gnosticism,  Apollinarianism,  Nestorian- 
ism,  Eutychianism,  Socinianism,  Swedenborgianism) . 

Chapter  XXII.    The  State  of  Humiliation   117 

1.  What  constitutes  the  state  of  humiliation.  2. 
Supernatural  birth.  3.  The  mystery  of  the  incarna- 
tion. 4.  Earthly  life.  5.  Sufferings.  6.  Death  and 
descent  to  Hades. 

Chapter  XXIII.    The  State  of  Exaltation   126 

1.  The  resurrection  of  Christ  (possibility,  Biblical 
account,  external  results,  spiritual  effect).  2.  The 
forty  days.  3.  The  ascension.  4.  Sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  God. 

Chapter  XXIV.    The  Prophetic  Office  of  Christ   131 

1.  The  three  offices.  2.  Christ  the  greatest  prophet. 
3.  Principal  teachings  (sinfulness  of  man,  plan  of 
salvation,  repentance  and  faith,  sanctification) . 


viii 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTKINE. 


Chapter  XXV.    The  Priestly  Office  of  Christ   134 

1.  Christ,  the  true  priest.  2.  His  atonement.  3. 
Various  aspects  of  the  atonement  (moral,  commer- 
cial, legal,  sacrificial).  4.  Redemption.  5.  Substi- 
tution. 6.  Objections  considered.  7.  Is  the  atone- 
ment limited?     8.  High  priestly  intercession. 

Chapter  XXVI.    The  Kingly  Office  of  Christ   142 

1.  Christ  a  King.    2.  The  mediatorial  Kingdom.  3. 
The  Kingdom  of  grace.    4.  The  Kingdom  of  glory. 

©art  Jfourtb— (personal  Salvation. 

Chapter  XXVII.    The  Beginning  of  Personal  Salva- 
tion   145 

1.  Salvation  a  gift  of  God.  2.  Salvation  not  without 
man.  3.  Individual  preparation  (Preparation  out- 
side of  the  Church,  within  the  Church). 

Chapter  XXVIII.    The  Call  to  Salvation   148 

1.  The  Gospel  call.  2.  The  inward  call.  3.  The  ef- 
fectual call.  4.  Relation  between  preparation  and 
the  call  to  salvation. 

Chapter  XXIX.    Repentance   151 

1.  The  need  of  repentance.  2.  False  conceptions  of 
repentance.  3.  Elements  of  true  repentance.  4. 
The  author  of  repentance.  5.  The  motive  of  repent- 
ance. 

Chapter  XXX.    Faith    155 

1.  The  need  of  faith.    2.  The  elements  of  faith.  3. 
The  object  of  faith.    4.  The  author  of  faith. 

Chapter  XXXI.    Regeneration  and  Justification   158 

1.  The  change  of  heart.  2.  Regeneration.  3.  Justi- 
fication. 4.  Justification  before  sanctification.  5. 
Union  with  Christ.    6.  The  state  of  grace. 

Chapter  XXXII.    Sanctification  and  Conflicts   163 

1.  The  new  life.  2.  Conflicts.  3.  Progress  in  sanc- 
tification. 4.  Times  of  weakness.  5.  Stages  of  spir- 
itual growth.    6.  The  question  of  sinless  perfection. 

Chapter  XXXIII.    Good  Works    169 

1.  Necessity   of   good    works.      2.  What    are  good 
works?    3.  Christian  virtues. 

Chapter  XXXIV.    The  Standard  of  Holy  Living. ...  173 
1.  The  teachings  of  the  Bible.    2.  Personal  example. 
3.  The  testimony  of  the  Spirit.    4.  Special  directions. 
5.  The  incentive  to  holy  living. 


CONTENTS. 


ix 


Chapter  XXXV.    Prayer    180 

1.  Meaning  and  purpose  of  prayer.  2.  What  to  pray 
for.  3.  Prayer  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  4.  Hearing 
•of  prayer.  5.  Can  the  departed  pray  for  us?  6. 
Prayer  for  the  departed. 

Chapter  XXXVI.    Christian  Perseverance    186 

1.  Can  a  believer  fall  from  grace?     2.  Groundless 
fears.    3.  Assurance  of  future  salvation. 

part  ffiftb— Gbe  Gburcb. 

Chapter  XXXVII.  Origin  and  Nature  of  the  Church  192 
1.  The  need  of  fellowship.  2.  The  divine-human 
character  of  the  Church.  3.  The  visible  and  the  in- 
visible Church.  4.  Merits  of  the  visible  Church.  5. 
National  and  independent  Churches.  6.  Relation 
between  Church  and  State. 

Chapter  XXXVIII.    Essentials  of  the  Church   199 

1.  Criterion  of  a  true  Church.  2.  Churches  and 
sects.  3.  Creeds  and  confessions.  4.  Sunday  and 
the  house  of  God. 

Chapter  XXXIX.    Elements   of   Prosperity   in  the 

Church    204 

1.  Spirituality  and  revivals.  2.  Missionary  work. 
3.  The  union  spirit.  4.  Variety  of  ritual.  5. 
Church  government.     6.  Discipline. 

Chapter  XL.    The  Ordinances  of  the  Church   211 

1.  Means  of  grace.  2.  Christian  fellowship  and  the 
word  of  God.  3.  The  sacraments.  4.  Difference 
between  word  and  sacrament.  5.  What  is  essential 
to  the  sacrament?  6.  The  necessity  of  the  sacra- 
ment. 

Chapter  XLI.    Baptism    218 

1.  The  meaning  of  the  word.    2.  Origin  of  the  rite. 

3.  Significance  of  the  rite.    4.  Conditions  for  bap- 
tism. 

Chapter  XLII.    Infant  Baptism   222 

1.  Antiquity  of  the  rite.  2.  Various  reasons  for  in- 
fant baptism.     3.  The  meaning  of  infant  baptism. 

4.  Reasons  for  preferring  infant  baptism.  5.  Whose 
children  are  to  be  baptized?  6.  The  rite  of  confir- 
mation. 

Chapter  XLIII.    The  Holy  Communion   229 

1.  The  institution  of  the  rite.  2.  The  observance 
of  the  rite.  3.  The  controversy  regarding  the  "body 
and  blood"   (ancient  Church,  middle  ages,  the  re- 


X 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


formers,  the  practical  view).  4.  The  benefits  of  the 
holy  communion.  5.  Proper  candidates  for  the  holy 
communion. 

part  Sfitb— 3final  Ibings. 

Chapter  XLIV.    The  Immortality  of  the  Soul   237 

1.  An  axiom  of  Christian  belief.  2.  Rational  argu- 
ments (historical,  metaphysical,  teleological,  moral). 
3.  The  teachings  of  the  Bible. 

Chapter  XLV.    The  Departed  Spirits  or  the  Inter- 
mediate State    241 

1.  Opinions  expressed  on  this  subject  (Transmigra- 
tion, Hades,  Purgatory;  Immediate  and  final  bliss  or 
woe).  2.  The  existence  of  an  intermediate  state. 
3.  The  state  of  transition.  4.  The  condition  of  the 
believer.  5.  The  condition  of  the  unbeliever.  6. 
Infants  and  thoes  who  have  not  heard  the  Gospel. 
7.  The  "place  of  the  departed  spirits." 

Chapter  XLVI.    The  Resurrection   252 

1.  The  Valuation  of  the  body.  2.  The  truth  of  the 
resurrection.  3.  The  nature  of  the  resurrection  body 
(incorruptible,  Christ-like,  material,  identity).  4. 
Connection  with  the  present  body.  5.  Transforma- 
tion. 

Chapter  XLVII.    The  Judgment  Day   259 

1.  Its  reality.  2.  The  judge  and  the  judged.  3. 
The  grounds  of  the  judgment.  4.  The  final  state  of 
the  blessed  (perfect  peace,  perfect  life,  grateful 
memories,  happy  environments,  degrees  of  glory). 
5.  The  state  of  the  ungodly. 

Chapter  XL VIII.    The  Future  of  the  Church  of  Christ  265 
1.  The  importance  of  the  subject.    2.  Early  expecta- 
tions.    3.  The  millennium  idea.     3.  The  objections 
to  the  millennial  expectation.     4.  Is  there  a  two- 
fold bodily  resurrection? 

Chapter  XLIX.    Final  Events  and  the  Coming  of 

Christ    272 

1.  Certainty  of  Christ's  return.  2.  Anti-Christ.  3. 
Universal  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  (the  future  of 
the  Hebrew  race?).     4.  The  coming  of  Christ. 

Chapter  L.    The  End  of  this  World  and  the  Final 

Destiny  of  All    279 

1.  Regeneration  of  the  earth.  2.  The  question  of 
universal  restoration.  3.  The  question  of  annihila- 
tion. 

Books  of  Reference   285 

Index  of  Subjects    287 


a  Gompenoium  of  Christian  Doctrine 
ano  Systematic  Gbeology. 


flntrofcuction. 

Chaptee  I.    The  Scope  of  Christian  Doctrine. 

The  two  terms  most  frequently  applied  to  a  comprehensive 
presentation  of  Christian  doctrine  are  "Dogmatics,"  and  "Sys- 
tematic Theology."    What  is  the  meaning  of  these  terms? 

1.  Dogmatics. 

Dogma,  from  douei,  in  classical  usage,  meant  a  decree 
issued  by  a  king,  a  resolution  passed  by  an  assembly,  or 
simply  a  personal  opinion,  particularly  a  philosophic  con- 
viction or  tenet.  In  the  New  Testament,  the  word  occurs 
first  for  the  edict  which  went  out  from  Caesar  Augustus 
(Luke  2:1).  Next  it  designates  the  "decree"  laid  down  by 
the  council  of  the  apostles  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  16  :4)  and  the 
"ordinances"  of  the  Mosaic  Law  (Eph.  2:15).  Since  the 
fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  the  term  has  been  used 
almost  exclusively  for  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith, 
as  professed  either  by  the  whole  or  some  branch  of  the 
Church.  Accordingly  dogmatics  may  be  defined  to  be,  the 
science  which  treats  of  the  articles  of  Christian  doctrine  as 
expressed  in  the  symbols  of  the  Church. 

2.  Theology. 

The  word  theology  ("speaking  of  God")  in  the  early 
Christian  Church,  was  used  with  the  special  meaning  of 
giving  prominence  to  the  divinity  of  Christ.  In  this  sense 
John,  the  Evangelist,  and  Gregory  Nazianzen  (A.D.  350), 
who  defended  the  deity  of  Christ  against  the  Arian  heresy, 
were  sometimes  designated  as  "theologians."    The  term  is 


2 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


still  employed  in  a  limited  sense  for  that  department  of 
dogmatical  teaching  which  treats  of  God,  his  attributes  and 
his  works.  Peter  Abelard  (about  A.D.  1100),  in  his  treatise 
"Theologia  Christiana,"  first  applied  the  term  to  the  entire 
range  of  Christian  doctrine.  In  the  general  sense  of  the 
word,  therefore,  "theology"  means  the  science  which  gives 
an  account  of  the  revelation  of  God  to  man  and  the  relation 
of  man  to  God.  Christian  theology  is  the  science  of  the 
Christian  faith,  as  accepted  and  sanctioned  by  the  Christian 
Church. 

Looking  at  the  sources,  from  which  the  facts  and  truths  of 
theology  are  derived,  it  is  customary  to  distinguish  between 
a  natural  and  a  supernatural  theology.  Natural  theology 
deals  with  the  knowledge  of  God  which  is  gained  from 
natural  sources,  such  as  the  physical  world,  secular  history, 
reason  and  conscience.  Supernatural  theology  supplements 
this  general  knowledge  of  the  divine  government  by  the 
special  revelation  of  God  which,  it  claims,  has  been  granted 
to  man.  This  supernatural  theology  accepts  at  the  outset 
certain  facts  and  truths  of  revealed  religion.  Some,  there- 
fore, raise  the  objection  that  the  term  "science"  does  not 
apply  to  a  theology  which  accepts  as  true  something  that  has 
not  been  properly  proven  and  is,  perhaps,  incapable  of 
proof.  But  there  is  no  science  which  does  not  build  upon 
some  axioms,  that  must  be  taken  for  granted.  While  it  may 
be  admitted,  that  the  exponents  of  theology  have,  sometimes, 
committed  the  mistake  of  placing  themselves  in  opposition 
to  the  laws  of  science,  by  presenting  teachings  which  are 
contrary  to  reason,  this  error  does  not  annul  the  many  evi- 
dences, that  Christian  theology  can  and  does  conform  to  the 
rules  that  obtain  in  the  apprehension  of  scientific  truth  in 
general. 

3.  Systematic  Theology. 

We  call  it  "systematic  theology,"  when  the  facts  and 
truths,  both  of  natural  and  revealed  theology,  are  presented 


INTBODUCTION. 


3 


in  their  rational  unity  and  in  the  form  of  a  doctrinal  system. 
But  why  should  there  be  any  system  of  theology?  If  the 
Christian  religion  is  founded  upon  faith  in  the  person  and 
the  work  of  Christ,  what  more  is  needed  than  a  personal 
appropriation  of  this  faith? 

The  need  of  a  system  will  appear  from  the  following  con- 
siderations :  a,  There  is  an  innate  desire  of  the  human  mind 
to  harmonize  and  to  systematize  the  facts  and  beliefs  which 
are  accepted  as  true.  "Study  to  present  thyself  approved 
unto  God  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  hand- 
ling aright  the  word  of  truth"  II  Tim.  2 :16.  b.  These 
truths  cannot  be  fully  understood  without  a  system  which 
connects  them  in  proper  order  and  defines  their  relation  to 

each  other,  "which   things   also  we   speak  combining 

spiritual  things  with  spiritual  words."  I  Cor.  2  :13.  c.  A 
rational  understanding  makes  the  faith  more  sure  {"Credo, 
ut  intelligam.") ;  as  Peter  declared  in  his  confession :  "We 
have  believed  and  are  sure  (or:  and  know)"  John  6:69. 
Christians  should  be  able  "to  give  an  answer  to  every  man 
that  asketh  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them"  (1  Pet. 
3:15).  This  is  what  systematic  theology  endeavors  to  ac- 
complish in  the  presentation  of  Christian  doctrine. 

4.  Relation  to  Other  Branches. 
Four  other  branches  of  theology  are  closely  related  to 
systematic  theology,  yet  must  be  distinguished  from  it. 
a.  Biblical  theology  is  that  branch  of  theological  study  which 
largely  furnishes  the  foundation  for  systematic  theology. 
Ignoring  any  other  source  of  information,  it  collects  the 
teachings  of  the  different  books  of  the  Bible  and  presents 
them  in  proper  order  (e.  g.  Stevens,  Theology  of  the  New 
Testament),  b.  Historical  theology  traces  the  development 
of  Christian  doctrine  from  the  time  of  the  Apostles  to  the 
present  day,  showing  the  changes  which  it  has  undergone 
in  different  epochs  of  the  Church's  history  (Harnack,  His- 
tory of  Dogma),    c.  Apologetic  theology  gives  prominence 


4 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


to  the  evidences  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  which 
it  maintains  and  vindicates  against  opposing  doubt  and  error 
(Bruce,  Apologetics),  d.  Symbolism  has  regard  mainly  to 
the  points  of  difference  between  the  doctrines  as  held  and 
taught  in  different  denominations,  generally  with  the  object 
of  defending  the  creed  of  one  particular  Church  (Schaff, 
The  Creeds  of  Christendom). 

Chapter  II.  Religion. 
1.  What  is  Religion? 

Since  theology  and  Christian  doctrine  deal  with  the  facts 
and  truths  of  religion,  it  is  important,  first  of  all,  to  define 
what  we  understand  by  this  word.  Religion  is  not  the  same 
as  morality,  that  is  the  consciousness  of  certain  fixed  prin- 
ciples of  right  and  wrong,  good  and  bad.  Morality  may 
exist  without  religion,  even  as  there  exist  certain  forms  of 
religion  without  morality.  But  what  is  religion?  The  word 
has  been  derived  either  from  the  Latin  verb  "religare,"  to 
bind,  or  from  "relegere,"  to  read  over,  to  consider.  While 
the  best  authorities,  from  Cicero  down  to  present  time,  de- 
cide in  favor  of  the  latter  derivation,  nevertheless  the  term 
religion  as  now  used,  seems  to  combine  the  two  elements 
contained  in  the  two  verbs,  viz. :  a  thinking  over  and  a  bind- 
ing, or  respect  and  dependence. 

Religion  is  not  something  that  is  imparted  from  without, 
it  is  an  innate  faculty,  a  consciousness  of  the  existence  of  a 
higher  power,  a  feeling  of  dependence  on  and  a  sense  of 
veneration  and  duty  toward  that  power.  We  may  speak  of 
an  unconscious  religion  as  existing  and  manifesting  itself 
even  in  the  irrational  creature,  as  the  Psalmist  says :  "All 
the  earth  doth  worship  thee,  the  Father  everlasting."  But 
as  a  conscious  faculty,  religion  is  a  part  of  the  higher  nature 
of  man.  Some  human  beings  possess  it  to  a  larger,  some  to  a 
lower  degree;  in  some  men  it  seems  to  be  lacking  almost 
entirely.    There  is  also  much  unconscious  or  half-conscious 


INTRODUCTION. 


5 


religion  among  men.  It  is  capable  of  development  and 
cultivation,  and  it  can  become  so  degenerate  or  atrophied, 
as  not  to  be  perceptible  at  all  any  more. 

2.  Subjective  Aspect  of  Religion. 

Religion  has  a  twofold  aspect,  a  subjective  and  an  ob- 
jective one.  It  requires  a  subject  which  stands  in  relation 
to  the  higher  power,  and  a  supreme  Being,  a  God,  who  is 
the  object  of  religion.  Looking  at  the  subjective  side,  the 
first  question  is:  What  faculty  in  man  is  the  seat  or  center 
of  religion?  Some  philosophers  and  teachers  of  religion 
have  sought  it  exclusively  in  the  intellect,  the  perceptive 
faculty,  declaring  a  man  religious,  if  he  has  the  right  con- 
ception of  the  truth  and  accepts  certain  teachings.  But  this, 
surely,  is  a  onesided  view,  to  make  religion  merely  a  matter 
of  belief  or  of  knowing.  Some  have  made  feeling  the  main 
test  of  religion  and  conclude  that  a  man  is  religious,  if  his 
sentiments  are  religiously  excited,  whether  this  be  done  by 
art,  (especially  music),  or  by  human  love,  or  by  any  other 
form  of  emotion  or  ecstacy.  Others  are  inclined  to  regard 
the  will  as  the  main,  if  not  the  exclusive  seat  of  religious 
energy,  making  it  identical  with  moral  action.  "To  do  right 
is  religion." 

But  these  onesided  definitions  fail  to  comprehend  the 
central  character  of  religion  which  is  simply  spiritual  life. 
Although,  according  to  the  different  individual  disposition, 
one  or  the  other  function  of  the  soul  will  be  more  promi- 
nently affected,  true  religion  is  not  confined  to  the  exercise 
of  any  one  of  the  powers  of  intellect,  emotion  or  will.  Re- 
ligion is  the  spiritual  life  of  man.  It  has  its  seat  in  the 
central  faculty  of  man  and  from  there  controls  all  his 
powers.  The  most  expressive  figure  for  this  central  faculty 
of  religion  is  the  Biblical  term  of  "heart,"  as  used  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  (Gen.  6:5,  Deut.  6:5,  Matth.  6:21, 
Rom.  1 :21).    The  heart,  as  the  center  and  the  motive  power 


6 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTEINE. 


of  physical  life,  is  a  fit  symbol  for  the  spiritual  principle 
and  center  of  man's  being. 

3.  The  Object  of  Religion. 

If  the  subjective  consciousness  and  energy  of  religion  are 
to  be  more  than  a  dream  and  a  self-delusion,  there  must  be  a 
corresponding  object  of  man's  reverence  and  worship,  a 
divine  Being,  towards  whom  man's  religion  tends.  A  re- 
ligion which  denies  the  existence  of  God  is  self-contra- 
dictory, because  it  takes  away  the  very  essence  of  religion, 
the  recognition  and  worship  of  the  higher  power.  The 
exercise  of  religion  presupposes  the  possibility  of  com- 
munion with  God  and  requires  a  God  who  relates  himself  to 
man.  There  may  be  many  different  forms  of  worship  and 
expressions  of  religion,  in  words,  sentiments  and  acts,  but 
in  order  to  make  these  effective,  there  must  be  a  God  to 
receive  this  worship. 

4.  False  Religions. 

Forms  of  religion  which  do  not  come  up  to  this  standard, 
are  the  following:  a.  Pantheism  and  nature  worship,  the 
religion  which  holds  that  the  universe  is  God,  that  he  is 
identical  with  the  world  and  has  no  personal  being,  b.  Poly- 
theism and  Ancestor  worship,  that  is  the  belief  in  the 
existence  of  many  limited  and  imperfect  Gods.  c.  Dualism, 
and  Devil  worship,  or  the  notion  that  there  are  two  an- 
tagonistic principles,  with  equal  claims  and  both  self- 
existing,  viz.,  mind  and  matter,  or  the  good  and  the  evil, 
d.  Deism,  or  the  religion  which  believes  in  the  existence  of 
God,  but  of  a  God  who  does  not  concern  himself  about  the 
world  or,  at  least,  who  gives  no  immediate  and  supernatural 
revelation  of  himself,  e.  Agnosticism,  the  attitude  of  in- 
difference toward  all  matters  of  religion,  or  else  a  negation 
of  all  possible  knowledge  concerning  God  and  his  relations 
to  man  and  the  world.  /.  Atheism  or  Naturalism,  which 
simply  denies  the  existence  of  God,  believes  in  matter  and 


INTRODUCTION. 


7 


force  only  and  traces  all  religion  back  to  mere  illusion  or  the 
cunning  of  priests  and  deceivers. 

Chapter  III.    The  Existence  of  God. 

1.  An  axiom  of  religious  truth. 
The  great  majority  of  men,  whether  they  be  Christians, 
Mohammedans,  Brahmanists,  Buddhists  or  other  heathen, 
believe  in  the  existence  of  God  as  the  primary  article  of  re- 
ligion. "Wherever  men  live,  in  all  parts  of  the  world  and  as 
far  back  as  we  have  any  historical  record,  however  degraded 
they  may  otherwise  be,  they  have  some  conception  of  a  God 
or  Gods,  to  whom  they  pray  or  whom  they  dread,  and  some 
superstitious  ceremony  at  least,  which  is  intended  for  wor- 
ship or  to  appease  the  anger  and  tbe  wrath  of  the  God  whom 
they  fear.  The  literature  of  all  nations  begins  with  the 
religious  element.  Although  "no  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time,"  men  need  not  be  taught  first  that  there  is  a  God ; 
they  know  it  by  intuition,  as  a  self-evident  truth.  Cicero 
declares  in  De  Natura  Deorum :  "Necesse  est  esse  deos, 
quoniam  insitas  eorum  vel  potius  innatas  cogitationes 
hdbemus,"  and  the  Psalmist  calls  him  a  fool  who  "says  in 
his  heart,  There  is  no  God"  (Ps.  14:1). 

2.  Doubt  and  Denial. 
There  are,  however,  quite  a  number  of  thoughtful  men, 
who  have  no  such  convictions,  who  are  either  indifferent  as 
to  the  question  of  the  existence  of  God  or  who  positively 
deny  or  scoff  at  this  belief.  While  there  may  be  few  who, 
strictly  speaking,  can  be  called  atheists,  (as  nearly  every- 
body believes  in  some  sort,  of  a  Higher  Being,)  the  number 
of  agnostics  and  of  those  who  reject  the  idea  of  a  personal 
God  is  large.  Over  against  such  doubt  and  denial,  is  there 
any  absolute  evidence  obtainable,  that  will  compel  universal 
acceptance?  Apparently  not.  We  can  prove,  however,  that 
the  belief  in  a  personal  God  rests  upon  facts  more  reasonable 
than  the  denial  of  his  existence.    The  strongest  evidence  of 


8 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


this  kind,  doubtless,  is  furnished  to  the  Christian  believer  in 
the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ  and  in  his  own  personal 
experience  of  the  love  of  God.  But  there  are  certain  a  priori 
arguments,  irrespective  of  the  Christian  religion,  which  may 
serve  as  a  foundation  for  the  general  conviction  of  the  Being 
of  God. 

3.  The  Positive  Proof. 

Four  main  arguments  are  thus  presented :  a.  The  physical 
or  teleological  argument  (Bom.  1:19,  20,  Acts  14:17).  This 
is  the  evidence  derived  from  the  order  and  design  of  the 
Universe  ("t£\os  "  end).  It  is  evident  that  there  is  design 
in  the  world.  The  most  skilled  work  of  man  does  not  equal 
the  beauty,  order  and  harmony  of  the  natural  organism. 
The  world  is  constructed  according  to  a  distinct  plan;  the 
same  laws  prevail  everywhere.  In  the  cocoon  of  the  cater- 
pillar, e.g.,  the  legs,  antennas  and  wings  of  the  future 
butterfly  are  all  folded  up,  in  preparation  for  its  future 
life.  An  unconscious  adapting  of  means  to  an  end  is  in- 
conceivable. Therefore  the  world  must  owe  its  origin  to  an 
allwise  creator. 

b.  The  cosmological  argument,  derived  from  the  de- 
pendence of  every  part  of  the  universe  on  a  previous  cause. 
The  world  around  us  is  contingent;  it  has  a  beginning. 
Everything  begun  owes  its  existence  to  some  producing 
cause.  "Evolution"  may  be  the  general  law  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  universe,  but  it  cannot  be  the  cause  of 
existence.  Logic  requires  a  first  cause,  some  self-existing 
Being,  who  is  absolutely  independent,  eternal  and  unchange- 
able. The  cause  of  the  universe  must  be  greater  than  the 
universe. 

c.  The  anthropological  argument.  This  argument  rests  on 
man's  mental  and  moral  nature.  We  have  a  sense  of  right 
and  wrong.  The  right  we  know  is  what  we  ought  to  do  and 
the  wrong  is  what  we  ought  to  avoid.  Conscience,  ("the  Cate- 
gorical Imperative"  of   Kant,)    exercises    authority  over 


INTBODUCTION. 


9 


every  man  and  there  is  a  general  sense  of  responsibility. 
This  proves,  that  there  must  be  a  lawgiver  and  judge.  So, 
likewise,  man's  emotional  nature,  his  feeling  of  love  and 
devotion,  point  to  the  existence  of  a  Being  who  is  the  source 
of  love  and  who  can  be  the  object  of  human  affection. 

d.  The  oniological  or  psychological  argument  (as  given  by 
Anselm  and  Descartes).  Man  has  an  innate  idea  of  an  in- 
finitely perfect  Being.  This  Being  must  have  reality.  If 
God  did  not  actually  exist,  we  could  conceive  of  a  Being 
greater  than  God,  because,  with  other  perfections,  he  would 
have  the  attribute  of  existence.  This  argument  apparently 
moves  in  a  circle,  in  that  it  assumes  the  existence  as  neces- 
sary, which  is  the  very  thing  to  be  proved.  To  meet  this 
objection,  it  is  urged,  that  the  idea  of  God  is  not  a  voluntary 
idea,  but  a  necessary  conception,  so  that  you  cannot  get  rid 
of  it  and  therefore  it  demands  a  reality  to  correspond  to  it. 

4.  The  Negative  Proof. 

If  the  positive  proof  for  the  existence  of  God  in  the  fore- 
going arguments  is  not  absolutely  conclusive,  it  will  bear 
comparison  with  the  arguments  of  the  opponents.  The 
latter,  unless  they  declare  themselves  simply  indifferent 
agnostics,  must  be  either  materialists  or  pantheists.  The 
materialist's  substitute  for  God  is  an  infinite  number  of 
atoms.  All  existence,  rational  and  irrational,  is  assumed  to 
be  the  result  of  fortuitous  combinations  of  one  and  the  same 
substance.  But  such  materialism  contradicts  the  testimony 
of  human  consciousness.  We  know  that  we  have  a  self 
which  thinks,  and  we  feel  ourselves  morally  accountable. 
Pantheism  regards  the  universe  as  the  unconscious  evolution 
of  an  impersonal  mind  or  substance,  which  reaches  con- 
sciousness only  in  man.  The  human  personality  itself  is 
declared  to  be  but  a  passing  moment  in  the  evolution  of  the 
infinite,  and  yet  the  only  personal  manifestation  of  the 
Godhead.    However,   this   theory   again   contradicts  our 


10 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


innermost  conviction  of  an  individual  existence  and  of  our 
responsibility  toward  a  supreme  personality. 

Chapter  IV.    Revelation  of  God. 
1.  Need  of  a  Divine  Revelation. 

If  our  belief  in  God  is  to  be  tbe  ground  of  our  re- 
ligion, we  must  know  more  of  God  than  bis  mere  existence. 
Tbere  must  be  a  relationship  established  between  God  and 
man  and  tbere  can  be  no  such  relation,  unless  God  makes 
it  possible  by  a  revelation  of  himself.  (Revelation  derived 
from  "relevare,"  to  draw  back  a  veil.)  True  religion  must 
be  taught  of  God.  The  idea  of  religion  implies  the  belief  in 
a  divine  revelation.  This  revelation  may  be  general  or 
special,  natural  or  supernatural. 

Many  professed  believers  in  the  existence  of  God  admit 
the  natural  or  general  revelation,  through  nature,  history 
and  conscience,  but  deny  any  special  revelation  or  personal 
communion  between  God  and  man.  They  declare  it  incon- 
sistent with  the  idea  of  God,  that  he  should  do  anything  that 
would  change  the  natural  course  of  events,  as  fixed  by 
eternal  law.  Such  interference,  they  claim,  would  imply 
that  the  world  was  made  imperfect  and  needed  improve- 
ment. 

a.  But  a  personal  God  who  created  the  world  and  did  not 
merely  mould  it,  must  be  supposed  to  exercise  constant 
supervision  and  control,  since  without  his  personal  support 
the  world  could  not  exist. 

b.  Furthermore,  in  the  present  condition  of  the  human 
race,  at  least,  the  mediate  or  general  revelation  of  God 
seems  insufficient  to  evoke  and  to  satisfy  true  religion.  It 
does  not  satify  the  longing  of  the  heart  after  communion 
with  God  and,  above  all,  it  does  not  teach  the  way  of  salva- 
tion. 


INTRODUCTION. 


11 


2.  Actuality  of  Revelation. 

Our  need,  therefore,  of  something  more  than  a  knowledge 
of  God  which  we  derive  from  nature,  as  well  as  the  general 
evidence  of  his  love  and  wisdom,  which  we  have,  afford 
ground  for  the  hope  that  our  intellectual  and  moral  wants 
will  be  met  by  the  supply  of  a  special  divine  revelation. 
Such  revelation,  we  believe,  has  been  given  to  mankind  at 
various  times  and  in  various  ways,  which  can  be  classified 
under  the  two  heads  of  external  or  objective  manifestation 
and  of  internal  or  subjective  revelation,  through  testimony 
born  to  the  human  heart  and  mind. 

3.  Objective  Evidence. 

We  find  it  recorded,  that  from  the  earliest  times  of  human 
history,  God  has  revealed  himself,  on  special  occasions,  by 
supernatural  means,  such  as  the  appearing  of  heavenly 
messengers  (angels),  by  wonderful  signs  and  miracles, 
by  ecstatic  visions  and  dreams  that  were  granted  to  certain 
men,  and  by  the  light  of  inspiration  in  the  holy  prophets. 
(Hebrews  1:12.) 

a.  Personal  Manifestation.  These  manifestations  cul- 
minate in  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  God-man, 
and  on  the  acceptance  of  this  central  revelation  the  reality 
of  previous  and  later  manifestations  substantially  depends. 
There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
did  claim  to  be  the  "Son  of  God,"  to  have  come  from  God 
for  the  purpose  of  revealing  the  will  of  his  Father  and  to  be 
the  Saviour  of  men.  He  was  crucified  for  that  claim,  and 
his  disciples,  after  his  resurrection  and  ascension,  made  it 
the  pillar  of  their  proclamation.  The  influence  which  pro- 
ceeded from  the  belief  in  Christ's  divinity  has  not  only  con- 
tinued to  this  day  to  conquer  all  opposition,  but  has  proved 
highly  beneficial  in  making  men  holier  and  happier.  The 
conclusion  is  reasonable,  that  God  has  revealed  himself,  first 
of  all,  in  a  supernatural  manner,  in  the  man  Jesus  Christ. 


12 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


b.  Prophecy.  Another  form  of  special  divine  revelation  is 
that  given  through  prophecy.  There  have  been  among  many 
nations,  but  especially  among  the  Hebrews,  "prophets," 
that  is  men  who  claimed  to  be  inspired  of  God  and  to  bring 
a  direct  message  from  him.  Among  the  predictions  re- 
corded as  coming  from  these  prophets,  some  have  had  such  a 
remarkable  fulfillment,  that  the  foreknowledge  of  the  future 
proves  the  fact  of  a  special  revelation  accorded  to  these 
prophets;  such  as  the  prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah, 
the  judgment  and  the  restoration  of  Israel,  the  destiny  of 
the  surrounding  nations,  the  future  of  the  Christian  Church, 
etc. 

Other  objective  evidences  of  the  reality  of  a  supernatural 
divine  manifestation  are  found  in  the  miracles  recorded  in 
the  Bible,  in  the  exalted  character  and  contents  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  general,  and  in  the  wonderful  history  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

4.  Subjective  Evidence. 

The  external  or  objective  evidence  is  supplemented  and 
strengthened  by  the  inner  testimony  of  practical  experience 
and  rational  conviction. .  In  order  to  become  fully  convinced 
of  the  reality  of  the  divine  revelation,  we  must  enter  into 
that  personal  communion  with  God,  through  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  is  promised  to  the  Christian  believer.  The 
personal  experience  of  divine  grace,  of  prayers  answered,  of 
hearts  and  lives  changed — that  is  the  surest  evidence  that 
can  be  given.  And  what,  at  first,  is  a  matter  of  faith,  be- 
comes more  and  more  also  a  matter  of  rational  conviction. 
The  facts  and  truths  of  revealed  religion  satisfy  the  de- 
mands of  sound  thinking  and  appear  as  an  organic  whole, 
in  which  each  part  supports  the  other. 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


Chapter  V.  The  Bible  as  the  Standard  of  Christian 
Doctrine. 

1.  Need  of  a  Standard. 

As  the  natural  revelation  of  God  in  the  physical  world  is 
continuous,  so  likewise  his  supernatual  manifestation  is  not 
confined  to  any  particular  time  and  place.  Hence  the  facts 
and  truths  of  revealed  religion  are  not  limited  to  Bible 
times  and  the  Bible  is  not  the  exclusive  record  or  the  only 
source  of  divine  revelation.  The  Christian  Church  existed 
before  the  New  Testament  was  written ;  and  God  revealed 
himself  to  the  patriarchs  and  to  the  children  of  Israel  long 
before  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  were  composed. 
There  has  been  a  continued  divine  revelation  also  given  to 
men,  both  direct  and  indirect,  since  the  Canon  of  the  Bible 
was  closed. 

However,  in  as  much  as  this  revelation  of  God  has  one 
great  historical  center  in  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus 
Christ,  we  need  a  reliable  record  of  that  central  revelation, 
upon  which  our  salvation  depends.  Our  knowledge  of  the 
words  and  deeds  of  Christ,  our  Saviour,  must  not  rest  on 
uncertain  traditions,  but  upon  the  testimony  of  reliable 
witnesses.  Hence  the  record  given  in  the  four  Gospels  is  of 
primary  importance  because  of  the  great  facts  and  truths 
which  they  transmit  to  us.  The  other  parts  of  the  Bible  are 
of  value,  mainly,  as  far  as  they  are  connected  with  this 
central  revelation.  The  history  of  Israel,  the  law  and  the 
prophets,  form  the  preparation  for  the  time  of  Christ ;  the 
book  of  Acts  and  the  New  Testament  Epistles  show  us  the 
right  appropriation  and  exemplification  of  the  facts  and 
truths  of  salvation.  These  records  have  been  put  in  writing 
for  permanent  use  and  handed  down  from  century  to 
century,  constituting  what  we  call  the  Canon  (rule)  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments. 


14 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


2.  The  Boohs  of  the  Bible. 

The  Bible  is  a  book  of  books,  as  well  as  the  book  of  books. 
Sixty-six  parts,  viz.,  39  in  the  Old  Testament  and  3  x  9  in 
the  New  Testament,  make,  up  the  collection  of  sacred  lit- 
erature which  has  been  accepted  by  the  Jewish  Synagogue 
and  by  the  Church  Councils  as  the  "Holy  Scriptures."  The 
canonization  of  these  books  was  very  gradual,  extending 
through  centuries ;  that  of  the  Pentateuch  is  generally  assign- 
ed to  the  time  of  Ezra,  that  of  the  prophets  (JSTebiim)  must 
have  been  accomplished  when  the  Septuagint  translation 
was  made  The  third  part  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  so- 
called  Ketubim  or  "writings,"  though  already  fixed  by 
general  agreement  at  the  time  of  Christ's  birth,  did  not  re- 
ceive the  official  endorsement  of  the  Jewish  authorities  until 
about  A.  D.  150. 

As  regards  the  New  Testament,  we  find  before  the  end 
of  the  second  century,  the  four  Gospels,  the  book  of  Acts, 
13  Epistles  of  Paul,  the  first  Ep.  of  John  and  that  to  the 
Hebrews  generally  recognized  as  canonical.  About  the  year 
300  A.  D.,  the  Church  father  Eusebius  enumerates  as  books 
of  undoubted  canonical  authority,  the  aforementioned  and 
the  first  Ep.  of  Peter ;  as  disputed,  second  Peter,  second  and 
third  John,  James,  Jude  and  the  Apocalypse.  The  Coun- 
cil of  Laodicea,  in  the  fourth  century,  fixed  the  New  Test. 
Canon  by  endorsing  all  the  books  as  at  present  received,  ex- 
cept the  Apocalypse,  which  was  added  by  subsequent 
synods.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  Canon  has  been  de- 
termined, not  by  special  divine  revelation,  but  by  the  con- 
current opinion  of  the  Church. 

3.  Their  Integrity. 

It  may  be  asked  first,  whether  the  books  now  included  in 
our  Bible  have  been  handed  down  to  us  unaltered,  as  they 
were  originally  written,  and  whether  they  were  written  by 
men  properly  authorized  and  qualified  to  record  the  facts 


INTRODUCTION. 


15 


and  truths  of  divine  revelation.  As  to  the  text  of  the  Old 
Testament  writings,  we  are  hardly  in  a  position,  positively, 
to  decide  on  its  original  form.  The  oldest  Hebrew  manu- 
script, regarded  as  authentic,  does  not  date  back  further 
than  A.  D.  916,  and  there  is  some  difference  between  our 
present  Hebrew  Text,  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  and  the 
Septuagint  translation.  But  it  can  be  safely  asserted  that 
the  variations  of  readings  do  not  seriously  affect  any  part 
of  either  the  history  or  the  doctrine  of  the  Old  Testament. 
For  the  New  Testament  we  have  an  abundance  of  early 
codices,  among  them  two  uncial  manuscripts,  the  Sinaiticus 
and  the  Vatican,  from  the  fourth  century.  These  manu- 
scripts, as  may  be  expected,  present  many  variations,  but 
none  of  them  of  such  a  nature,  as  to  make  the  leading  facts 
or  teachings  uncertain  .  Mark  16  :9-20  is  wanting  in  several 
old  manuscripts;  John  7:53-8:11  is  omitted  in  some  of  the 
best  and  seems  to  be  out  of  its  natural  context,  though  it 
may  be  genuine.  John  5  :3-4,  Matth.  6  :13,  Acts  8  :37  and  1 
John  5  :7  are  probably  later  additions,  but  even  the  passages 
cited  contain  nothing  that  is  at  variance  with  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Testament. 

4.  Authenticity  and  Authority. 
Most  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  are  named  after 
the  persons  of  whom  they  speak,  while  the  author  is  not 
designated  and  there  is  much  uncertainty  as  to  the  time  of 
composition  of  some  of  them.  The  authority  and  credibility 
of  these  books,  then,  depends  not  so  much  upon  their  writer, 
as  upon  the  self-testimony  for  truth  contained  in  the  record 
itself.  We  know  from  the  Tel  el  Am  a  ma  letters  and  the  code 
of  Hammurabi,  that  the  art  of  writing  was  well  known  be- 
fore the  time  of  Moses  and  of  Abraham,  so  that  the  possi- 
bility of  the  existence  of  historical  documents  from  the  time 
of  the  Exodus  and  before  is  assured.  We  have  the  testi- 
mony of  Christ  and  of  the  Apostles  for  the  high  value  and 
the  trustworthiness  of  the  history  and  doctrine  contained  in 


16 


CHRISTIAN  DOOTRINB. 


the  Old  Testament  books,  all  of  which,  with  the  exception 
of  six,  are  quoted  in  the  New  Testament.  Besides  this,  the 
superior  character  and  tone  of  their  contents  pledges  their 
general  credibility  and  authority. 

For  the  New  Testament  we  have  abundant  proof  from 
the  early  Church  fathers,  that  the  historical  books  and  the 
epistles,  with  few  exceptions,  were  accepted  in  their  day  as 
written  by  the  men  to  whom  they  are  ascribed, — the  Gospels 
of  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke  before  A.D.  70,  and  First  Thes- 
salonians  already  about  A.D.  50,  only  twenty  years  after  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  the  rest  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment before  the  year  A.D.  100.  The  genuineness  of  all  the 
Pauline  epistles  and  the  Apostolic  origin  of  the  fourth 
Gospel  have  again  and  again  been  confirmed  by  an  unbiased 
examination  of  all  the  available  testimony.  But  whether  or 
not  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  accepted  as 
authentic,  the  wonderful  story  of  the  life,  the  words  and  the 
redeeming  work  of  our  Saviour,  and  of  the  founding  of  the 
Christian  Church,  is  told  with  such  honest  simplicity  and 
positive  assurance,  in  such  a  remarkable  agreement  of  the 
testimony  of  the  various  writers,  and  with  such  a  solemn 
appeal  to  the  divine  witness  for  the  truthfulness  of  their 
record,  that  we  cannot  doubt  the  Gospel  story,  as  transmitted 
to  us  by  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  genuine. 

5.  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures. 

But,  in  order  to  be  truly  authoritative,  more  is  required  of 
the  Bible  than  that  its  books  be  proven  authentic,  intact  and 
generally  trustworthy.  These  books  record  certain  facts 
which  could  not  have  been  known,  except  by  a  supernatural 
revelation  and  which  we  could  not  accept  as  true,  if  they 
were  not  vouched  for  by  special  divine  authority.  Many  of 
the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Bible,  likewise,  transcend  all 
ordinary  human  thinking  and  sentiment,  so  as  to  point  to 
a  higher  source. 


INTRODUCTION. 


17 


Accordingly,  we  find  that  the  authors  of  these  sacred 
Scriptures  frequently  claim  to  speak  and  write  with  divine 
authority.  In  the  Old  Testament  this  is  done  in  the  expres- 
sion :  "Thus  saith  Jehovah"  or  "Hear  ye  the  word  of  Je- 
hovah," and  this  claim  for  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  fully  endorsed  in  the  New  Testament,  in  such  decla- 
rations as  the  following:  "The  Holy  Ghost  spake  before 
by  the  mouth  of  David"  (Acts  1 :16)  ;  or,  "jSTo  prophecy  ever 
came  by  the  will  of  man,  but  men  spake  from  God,  being 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost"  (II  Peter  1 :21)."  "From  a  babe 
thou  hast  known  the  sacred  writings  which  are  able  to  make 
thee  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Every  Scripture  inspired  of  God  is  also  profitable 
for  teaching,  etc."  (II  Tim.  3:15,  16). 

As  for  the  New  Testament  itself,  we  find  it  recorded,  that 
Christ  promised  his  disciples  that  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the 
Father  would  send,  would  "teach  them  all  things  and  guide 
them  into  all  the  truth"  (John  14:26  and  16:13).  The 
apostle  Paul  writes  in  1  Cor.  2  :12  "We  received  the  Spirit 
of  God  that  we  might  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given 
to  us  by  God,"  and  in  Gal.  1 :11,  12,  "I  make  known  to  you, 
brethren,  as  teaching  the  Gospel  which  was  preached  by  me, 
that  it  is  not  after  man.  For  neither  did  I  receive  it  from 
man,  nor  was  I  taught  it,  but  it  came  to  me  through  revela- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ." 

These  declarations  concerning  a  special  revelation  and  in- 
spiration are  rightly  applied  to  the  whole  Bible,  a.  Here  we 
have  sixty-six  books  or  parts,  written  by  many  authors,  at 
long  intervals  of  time,  yef  all  showing  wonderful  unity  of 
spirit  and  aim,  as  if  they  were  the  work  of  one  mind.  b.  The 
stories  told  in  them  and  the  truths  presented  appeal  to  the 
wants  and  aspirations  of  the  soul  in  a  peculiar  manner,  be- 
ing adapted  to  the  needs  and  wants  of  man  in  all  ages  and 
conditions  of  life.  c.  The  moral  and  religious  teaching  of  the 
2 


18 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Bible  is  so  spiritual,  pure  and  perfect,  that  it  cannot  be 
traced  to  any  other  but  a  divine  origin  and  the  conception 
of  the  person  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ  is  so  exalted,  that 
we  could  not  account  for  it  as  the  product  of  human  genius. 
d.  Finally,  the  powerful  and  beneficent  influence  exerted  by 
the  sacred  Scriptures  upon  the  souls  of  men,  even  to  the  pres- 
ent day  fully  confirms  the  Christian  belief  in  the  inspiration 
of  the  Bible. 

6.  Distinctions  and  Limitations. 

As  to  the  mode  and  degree  of  this  Inspiration,  we  find 
that  the  ancient  Jewish  Synagogue,  in  fixing  the  Old  Testa- 
ment canon,  distinguished  three  degrees  of  inspiration.  The 
first  and  highest  degree  was  ascribed  to  the  Torah  or  the 
Pentateuch,  <fbeeause  God  spoke  with  Moses  mouth  to 
mouth;"  the  second  degree  to  the  Nebiim  or  prophets,  to 
whom  the  word  of  God  came  by  internal  revelation  of  the 
Spirit ;  the  third  to  the  Ketubim  or  poetical  books  and  later 
historical  writings,  whose  authors  had  the  divine  inspiration 
in  a  mediated  form  only  While  this  classification  rested 
on  a  slight  foundation,  it  serves  to  point  out  a  difference  in 
the  form  and  manner  of  the  inspiration  granted  to  the  writers 
of  the  various  books. 

What  we  claim  for  all  parts  of  the  Bible,  is  the  dynamical 
inspiration  of  the  writer  rather  than  a  verbal  inspiration  of 
the  writing,  that  is  a  quickening  and  elevating  of  the  human 
faculty,  so  as  to  enable  the  writer  to  present  the  facts  and 
truths  in  reference  to  man's  relation  to  God  and  the  divine 
plan  of  salvation,  accurately  and  fully.  But  all  divine  reve- 
lation as  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  has  passed  through  the 
medium  of  human  thought,  language  and  writing.  It  was 
adapted  to  the  human  needs  and  it  was  a  progressive  revela- 
tion. It  is  evident  that  these  writers  did  not  lose  their  in- 
dividuality or  nationality,  when  inspired  to  write  religious 
history  or  doctrine.  An  educated  man  wrote  differently  from 
one  who  had  no  education,  Peter  differently  from  Paul  (II 


INTBODUCTION. 


19 


Pet.  3:15,  16),  Amos  from  Isaiah  (Amos  7  :14),  a  Hebrew 
differently  from  a  Greek,  a  writer  in  the  tenth  century  before 
Christ  differently  from  one  living  in  the  fifth  century.  The 
evangelist  Luke  expressly  states  in  his  preface,  that  he  has 
"traced  the  course  of  things  accurately,"  before  he  under- 
took to  write  his  Gospel. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  here  and  there,  in  the  Bible,  the 
human  element  includes  traces  of  human  error  in  minor 
matters  of  historical  detail.  Certain  numbers  and  dates 
contain  discrepancies,  such  as  "Solomon  had  forty  thousand 
stalls  of  horses"  (1  Kgs.  4:26),  by  the  side  of  Solomon 
had  four  thousand  stalls  (II  Chron.  9:25),  or  "seven  years 
of  famine"  in  II  Sam.  24:13,"  against  "three  years'  fam- 
ine" in  1  Chron.  21 :12.  It  is  not  always  possible  to  harmon- 
ize certain  statements  found  in  the  Bible  books,  both  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  with  results  gained  from  other 
sources  or  even  with  each  other.  Some  passages,  apparently 
of  no  value,  are  duplicated  in  the  same  book,  like  the  gene- 
alogy of  Gibeon  in  I  Chron.  8  :29-38  and  9  :35-44. 

On  the  other  hand  there  is  generally  a  surprising  accuracy 
even  in  historical  and  geographical  matters  of  small  import- 
ance and  a  wonderful  wisdom  in  the  use  of  popular  terms 
that  may  be  tested  by  advanced  scientific  knowledge.  Over 
against  the  critical  tendency  of  the  day,  which  hunts  out 
and  magnifies  the  discrepancies  and  errors  of  the  Bible,  it  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  a  book  of  such  unquestionable  excel- 
lence and  practical  value  can  not  lose  much  by  occasional 
marks  of  human  limitation  and  in  all  points  of  uncertainty 
deserves  to  be  given  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  rather  than  to 
be  judged  faulty. 

There  has  been  much  fruitless  discussion  of  such  questions 
as  "the  inerrancy  of  the  Scriptures,"  "plenary"  and  "ver- 
bal" inspiration,  and  whether  we  should  say  that  the  "Bible 
is  the  word  of  God"  or  "contains  the  word  of  God," — fruit- 
less because  of  the  different  meanings  attached  to  these 


20 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


terms.  What  is  essential,  is  that  we  accept  the  Bible  as  in 
a  unique  sense  divinely  inspired,  a  trustworthy  record  of 
the  great  facts  of  dfvine  revelation  for  the  salvation  of  man, 
and  a  standard  of  religious  truth,  by  which  all  Christian 
doctrine  can  be  tested  and  measured. 

7,  Difference  Between  Roman  and  Protestant  Standpoints. 
The  Koman  Church  regards  the  apocryphal  books  of  the 
Bible,  the  Church  tradition,  and  the  decrees  of  the  Church 
councils,  as  of  equal  authority  with  the  sacred  Canon. 
Protestants  do  not  accept  these  as  of  like  value,  because  the 
apocrypha  were  never  endorsed  by  the  proper  authorities  as 
canonical  and  are  manifestly  inferior  in  the  substance  and 
form  of  their  contents.  As  to  Tradition  and  Church  Coun- 
cils, we  hold,  that  however  important  they  may  otherwise 
be,  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  sufficient  as  a  standard  of  Chris- 
tian teaching,  by  which  even  the  decrees  and  resolutions  of 
Synods  and  Church  Councils  should  be  tested. 

In  the  matter  of  interpreting  the  Bible,  Rome  virtually 
limits  the  right  of  teaching  to  the  clergy,  subject  to  official 
direction.  Protestants  hold  that  the  great  facts  and  doc- 
trines which  we  find  in  the  Bible  are  sufficiently  plain  to  be 
read  and  understood  by  every  man.  As  a  rule  of  Christian 
faith  and  practice,  the  Scriptures  do  not  need  the  mediation 
of  an  infallible  interpreter.  In  order  to  understand  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Bible,  that  is,  the  Word  of  God  as  revealed  to 
man,  nothing  more  is  required  than  that  the  divine  spirit  di- 
rectly testify  to  the  human  heart. 

As  to  the  intellectual  comprehension  of  the  individuality 
of  different  books  of  the  Bible,  the  mutual  relation  of  the 
facts  and  doctrines  presented  and  the  like,  it  is  evident,  that 
this  requires  an  intellectual  study  of  men  fitted  for  this  task. 
Again  the  proper  appreciation  of  the  historical,  linguistic  and 
archaeological  features  of  the  Canon  presupposes  an  acquaint- 
ance with  these  branches.  He  who  combines  the  gifts  and 
faculties  thus  brought  into  requisition,  whether  he  be  a 


INTRODUCTION. 


clergyman  or  a  layman,  will,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  be  a  competent  interpreter  of  Holy  Writ.  An  intel- 
ligent and  trustworty  use  of  the  Bible  as  the  rule  of  faith 
and  the  standard  of  Christian  doctrine  cannot  consist  in  a 
mechanical  quotation  of  detached  "proof  texts"  for  this  or 
that  belief,  but  must  search  into  the  true  meaning  of  the 
words  of  Scripture  in  their  connection  and  as  a  part  of  the 
divine  revelation  contained  therein,  comparing  Scripture 
with  Scripture.   See  Matthew  4 :6  and  7. 

Chapter  VI.    Summary  of  the  History  of  Chistian 
Doctrine. 
1.    The  Early  Church. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  we  may  say,  was  the  first  systematic 
theologian  of  the  Christian  Church.  His  epistle  to  the 
Romans  is  a  systematic  treatise  on  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
(Soteriology).  Ordinarily,  Christian  instruction  during 
the  apostolic  age  does  not  seem  to  have  been  imparted  ac- 
cording to  a  definite  plan  or  method.  It  was  altogether 
popular  and  practical.  The  Churchfather  Ignatius  was, 
perhaps,  the  first  to  draw  up  a  statement  of  the  Christian 
faith  in  a  series  of  propositions  (about  A.  D.  110).  The 
Didache  or  teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  century,  is  a  church  manual  for  catechists 
and  for  congregations,  containing  both  moral  precepts  and 
directions  as  to  worship  and  discipline.  The  "Diatesseron" 
of  Tatian,  that  is,  selections  from  the  four  Gospels,  is  an- 
other monument  from  the  early  Church.  The  so-called 
Apostles'  Creed,  (Symbolum  Apostolicum)  in  its  earliest 
form  of  a  confession  of  faith,  was  used  in  the  Church  at 
Rome  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  though  legend- 
ary authority  connects  it  with  the  apostles  themselves. 

About  the  same  time  Christianity  was  attacked  by  the 
Epicurean  philosopher  Celsus  and  by  the  writer  of  satire, 
Lucian.   To  meet  these  attacks,  several  educated  Greeks  who 


22 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


had  joined  the  Church,  began  to  apply  the  philosophic  terms 
with  which  they  were  familiar  to  the  Christian  doctrine. 
Such  men  were  Justin  Martyr,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and 
Origen  (A.  D.  185-253),- -with  his  treatise  on  "De  Princi- 
piis"  (First  Truths.)  From  that  time  on,  the  philosophic 
systems  of  successive  ages  have  generally  exercised  consid- 
erable influence  upon  the  form  of  the  Christian  doctrine.  In 
the  fourth  century,  a  controversy  arose  between  Arius,  a 
presbyter  in  the  Church  at  Alexandria  and  his  bishop 
Alexander,  on  the  question,  whether  the  Son  of  God  was 
"equal"  to  the  Father  in  all  respects  or  only  similar.  This 
controversy  led  to  the  convening  of  a  General  Council  at 
Nicaea  and  to  the  formulating  of  the  Nicene  Creed  (A.  D. 
325),  which  declares  the  Son  to  be  "God  of  God,  begotten 
and  not  made,  consubstantial  with  the  Father."  The 
Athanasian  Creed  (or  Symbolum  Quicunque),  named  after 
Bishop  Athanasius,  as  the  chief  opponent  of  Arius,  though 
of  later  origin,  covers  about  the  same  ground,  but  is  more 
dogmatic  in  form  and  contents. 

The  most  prominent  Christian  teacher  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fifth  century  was  Augustine,  the  author  of  the  "Con- 
fessions," of  the  "Christian  Manual"  and  of  the  "De  Civi- 
tate  Dei."  To  his  time  belongs  the  controversy  against 
Pelagius  and  Pelagianism  on  the  question  of  the  natural  de- 
pravity of  man. 

2.  Middle  Ages. 

The  Greek  theologian,  John  of  Damascus  (A.  D.  700-760) 
is  named  as  the  first  who  expounded  the  Christian  doctrines 
in  proper  order  and  showed  their  relation  to  one  another. 
His  "Summary  of  the  Orthodox  Faith"  is  the  most  impor- 
tant doctrinal  text-book  of  the  Greek  Church  and  has  gained 
for  its  author  the  name  of  the  "Father  of  systematic  theol- 
ogy." After  the  twelfth  century,  however,  many  such  sys- 
tems were  published  in  the  Western  or  Latin  Church.  Here 
a  distinction  is  made  between  Scholasticism  and  Mysticism. 


INTRODUCTION. 


23 


a.  Scholasticism  devoted  itself  mainly  to  the  work  of  sys- 
tematizing the  accepted  Church  doctrines  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  endeavored  to  prove  them  by  means  of  the  phil- 
osophy of  Aristotle.  The  foremost  names  here  are  those  of 
Archbishop  Anselm,  of  Canterbury,  the  writer  of  "Cur 
Deus  Homo,"  and  of  the  two  French  theologians :  the  monk 
Peter  Abelard  and  the  first  "doctor  of  theology,"  Peter 
Lombard  (  +  1164),  whose  Libri  Sententiarum  Quatuor  was 
the  theological  text-book  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

b.  Mysticism.  In  opposition  to  these  Scholastics,  whose 
tendency  was  to  treat  Christian  doctrine  simply  as  a  sub- 
ject for  intellectual  study  and  abstract  speculation,  other 
divines  emphasized  the  necessity  of  a  personal  interest  in 
this  doctrine  and  declared  that  to  be  the  true  object  of  theo- 
logical training.  They  called  themselves  mystics.  At  the 
head  of  this  school  stood  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  (+1153), 
a  contemporary  of  the  famous  Abelard  and  author  of  the 
maxim :  "Tantum  Deus  cognoscitur,  quantum  diligitur," 
(We  know  God  only  as  much  as  we  love  him).  In  a  wider 
sense,  the  Waldensians  also,  in  their  simple  acceptance  of 
the  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of  faith,  their  practical  piety,  and 
their  rejection  of  the  scholastic  dogmas  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  may  here  be  reckoned  in.  John  "Wyclif  of  England 
(+1384),  and  John  Hus  of  Bohemia  (+1415)  anticipated  a 
new  era  of  Christian  faith  and  doctrine,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  it. 

3.  Reformation  Times. 

The  followers  of  John  Hus.  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian 
Brethren,  published  a  large  number  of  Church  confessions 
and  catechisms,  the  first  one  as  early  as  1467.  The  Churches 
of  the  German  Reformation,  likewise,  soon  formulated  their 
belief  in  systematic  treatises.  In  matters  of  doctrine,  the 
Reformation  dealt  principally  with  personal  salvation  and 
the  meaning  of  the  sacraments,  besides  maintaining  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Bible,  instead  of  the  Church. 


24 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE 


Luther's  great  work  is  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the 
German  language.  Melanchthon  wrote  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession (1530),  Zwingli  a  "Commentary  on  the  true  and  the 
false  Religion,"  and  Calvin  his  "Institutio  religionis 
Christian  ae,"  a  master  work  in  theology,  but  with  absolute 
predestination  for  its  central  doctrine. 

The  principal  Protestant  Creeds,  resulting  from  the  Re- 
formation, were  the  following:  For  the  Lutheran  Church, 
the  Augsburg  Confession,  with  the  Articles  of  Schmalkalde 
and  the  Formula  concordiae;  for  the  Reformed  Churches, 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  of  1562  and  the  Helvetic  Con- 
fession. The  two  latter  formed  the  basis  of  the  Confessio 
Anglicana,  better  known  as  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the 
Church  of  England  (1562);  also  of  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession (1646)  of  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Decrees  of  the 
Synod  of  Dort,  for  the  States  of  Holland  (1618).  The 
strong  protests  raised  by  J.  Arminius  and  his  followers 
against  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  predestination  were,  at 
the  Synod  of  Dort,  put  aside  and  the  Arminian  teaching 
was  declared  heretical. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  consequence  of  the  at- 
tacks made  by  Protestantism,  felt  constrained  to  revise  or 
at  least  to  further  define  her  position  with  regard  to  various 
points  of  doctrine.  This  was  done  at  the  Council  of  Trent 
(1545-63),  resulting  in  the  promulgation  of  the  "Canones 
et  Decreta  Concilii  Tridentini"  and  the  Catechismus  Ro- 
manus.  The  Greek  Catholic  Church  was  not  much  influenced 
by  the  Reformation.  However,  about  a  century  later,  the 
Russian  metropolitan,  Peter  Mogilas,  assisted  by  several 
Greek  priests,  drew  up  a  confession  of  faith  for  the  Eastern 
Church,  which,  in  1672,  received  the  sanction  of  a  Council 
held  in  Jerusalem.  It  bears  the  title,  "The  orthodox  agree- 
ment of  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  of  the  East." 

4.  The  Seventeenth  Century. 

The  theology  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  mainly  con- 


INTRODUCTION. 


25 


servative.  It  maintained  and  defined  the  confessional  doc- 
trines of  the  various  Churches  of  the  Reformation.  Leonard 
Hutter  and  Abr.  Calov  (+1686)  were  prominent  champions 
of  the  Lutheran  faith,  Hugo  Grotius  and  John  Cocceius  of 
the  Reformed.  The  last  named  was  the  father  of  the  so- 
called  "federal  head"  theory,  on  the  imputation  of  Adam's 
sin  to  his  descendants.  In  England  the  Baptist,  John 
Bunyan  (+1688)  wrote  Pilgrim's  Progress  and  "Gospel 
Truths  opened,"  and  the  Puritans,  John  Owen  and  Richard 
Baxter,  published  a  number  of  valuable  works  on  the  mean- 
ing of  Scripture  and  on  practical  topics.  Toward  the  end  of 
the  century,  however,  a  great  change  in  the  aspect  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine  was  being  prepared,  when  philosophy,  which 
so  far  had  been  the  handmaid  of  theology,  made  itself 
independent  and  broke  away  from  the  Church  Rene 
Descartes,  the  author  of  the  maxim  "Cogito,  ergo  sum"  (I 
think  and  therefore  I  am)  began  his  philosophic  research 
with  universal  doubt,  intending  to  seek  something  that 
would  be  absolutely  undeniable.  The  Jewish  philosopher, 
B.  Spinoza  (+1677)  then  converted  Cartesian  principles 
into  Pantheism. 

5.  The  Eighteenth  Century. 

The  history  of  Christian  doctrine  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury is  characterized  by  two  opposite  movements,  both  of 
them  reactions  against  the  rather  formal  orthodoxy  of  the 
preceding  period,  viz. :  Rationalism  and  a  Revival  of  Per- 
sonal Religious  Experience. 

The  Rationalistic  movemeni  appeared  first  in  England  in 
the  form  of  Deism,  as  represented  by  Lord  H.  Bolingbroke 
(+1751)  and  others,  who  established  for  themselves  a  system 
of  natural  religion,  as  opposed  to  revelation  and  exalted 
reason  to  the  position  of  supreme  judge  in  the  realm  of  re- 
ligious truth.  In  France  the  freethinkers  Voltaire  and 
Rousseau  were  the  leading  spirits  of  their  time.  In  Ger- 
many the  current  of  Rationalism  appeared  both  in  the  theo- 


26 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


logical  teachings  of  the  University,  with  such  men  as  Semler 
and  Wegscheider  and  in  the  preaching  from  the  pulpit.  It 
was  somewhat  checked  by  the  critical  philosophy  of  Kant, 
who  pointed  out,  that  pure  reason  by  itself  is  unable  to 
make  any  positive  statement,  but  that  human  consciousness 
or  "practical  reason"  requires  certain  axioms  of  religious 
truth,  such  as  the  belief  in  God,  virtue  and  immortality. 
But  Kant's  philosophy  could  not  revive  Christian  faith  or 
inspire  Christian  life. 

Such  a  revival  of  Christian  faith  and  practice,  founded 
upon  experimental  evidence,  came  simultaneously  with  the 
wave  of  Rationalism.  It  began  with  the  rise  of  Pietism  in 
Ph.  J.  Spener  (+1705),  who  emphasized  the  need  of  per- 
sonal experience  against  a  dead  orthodoxy  of  belief  and  in- 
stituted prayer-meetings  and  circles  for  the  cultivation  of 
practical  piety  and  the  study  of  the  Bible,  the  "Ecclesiolae 
in  Ecclesia"  (little  churches  within  the  Church).  A.  H. 
Francke  (+1727),  founder  of  the  Halle  Orphanage,  the 
Halle  Bible-house,  the  Divinity  School  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society,  continued  Spener's  work.  Later  the  devout 
Count  Ludwig  von  Zinzendorf  (1700-1760),  the  Founder  of 
the  renewed  TJnitas  Fratrum,  and  Bishop  Spangenberg 
(+1792),  the  writer  of  the  "Idea  Fidei  Fratrum,"  with  the 
"Moravian  Brethren,"  proved  and  proclaimed  anew  the  wis- 
dom and  power  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  by  their  re- 
legious  fervor,  their  earnest  Christian  life  and  their  en- 
thusiastic and  successful  Missionary  activity.  John  Wesley 
(1703-1791),  with  the  Methodists,  also  made  the  same  per- 
sonal experience  of  the  living  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
converting  the  soul,  and  then,  with  burning  evangelistic  zeal, 
spread  the  story  of  salvation,  through  the  cross  of  Jesus, 
among  the  people  far  and  wide. 

It  was  only  after  these  preachers  and  missionaries  had 
again  practically  established  the  leading  facts  and  truths 
of  the  Christian  religion  by  experimental  evidence,  that  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


27 


schools  of  theology  ventured  to  reconstruct  their  doctrinal 
systems.  American  theology  of  that  time,  however,  as  taught 
by  Jonathan  Edwards  (+1758)  and  other  New  England 
divines,  was  not  much  influenced  by  the  18th  Century  na- 
tionalism. It  was  largely  engaged  in  questions  of  Calvin- 
istic  doctrine,  particularly  that  about  the  "guilt  of  inborn 
depravity,"  on  which  point  it  divided  into  the  Old  and  the 
New  School. 

6.  The  Nineteenth  Century. 

In  Germany  the  new  era  of  positive  Christian  theology 
began  with  F.  Schleiermacher  (1768-1834),  who  had  been  a 
student  of  the  Moravian  College  at  Niesky  and  who,  though 
himself  still  somewhat  under  the  influence  of  nationalism, 
inspired  many  thousands  of  students  with  a  new  and  fervent 
interest  in  religion  and  theology,  especially  in  the  person 
of  Christ,  the  Saviour.  In  his  work,  "The  Christian  Faith," 
the  subjective  element  of  the  inner  consciousness  and  of 
pious  feeling,  rather  than  any  objective  evidence  or  tradi- 
tional authority,  is  made  the  foundation  of  the  confession 
of  faith. 

For  a  time  the  philosophy  of  Hegel  (1770-1831),  with  its 
theory  of  the  identity  of  thought  and  being,  and  of  a  suc- 
cession of  self-evolving  world-conceptions,  led  many  again 
into  the  error  of  treating  all  records  of  a  special  and  miracu- 
lous revelation  as  myths  and  self-delusion.  This  culminated 
in  D.  F.  Strauss,  in  1836,  publishing  his  "Life  of  Jesus," 
intended  to  show,  that  the  wonderful  facts  of  Christ's  life 
are  but  myths,  unconscious  fictions  of  the  Christian  Church. 
What  Strauss  wrote  for  German  scholars,  that  Renan  did 
for  French  novel  readers.  The  great  majority,  however,  of 
the  leaders  in  theology  and  Christian  doctrine,  in  Germany 
and  elsewhere,  were  moved  to  take  a  firmer  hold  on  the  es- 
sentials of  revealed  religion,  as  transmitted  to  us  by  the 
early  Church.    Thus  many  "Lives  of  Jesus"  were  composed 


28 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


by  different  writers  and  the  study  of  the  Bible  was  taken  up 
with  greatly  increased  interest  and  zeal. 

Then  followed  a  large  array  of  important  Evangelical 
works  on  Systematic  Theology  published  in  different  coun- 
tries and  from  the  standpoints  of  different  denominations. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned:  Richard  Watson  (+1833), 
with  his  "Theological  Institutes,"  the  textbook  of  the  Meth- 
odist faith;  Thomas  Chalmers  (  +  1847)  and  Thomas  Dick 
(+1857),  both  Scotch  Presbyterians;  the  Danish  Lutheran 
Bishop  Martensen  (1808-1884)  and  the  German  Lutherans, 
Luthardt,  Delitsch  and  Kahnis;  Herman  Plitt,  "Evan- 
gelische  Glaubenslehre,"  of  the  Moravian  Church;  Lange, 
the  great  Bible  scholar,  and  Ebrard  (1818-1888)  represent- 
ing the  Reformed  standpoint  in  Germany  and  Van  Oosterzee 
(1817-1881)  in  Holland;  I.  A.  Dorner  (1809-1884),  A.  G. 
Tholuk  and  Martin  Kaehler  of  the  Evangelical  State  Church 
of  Germany. 

In  the  United  States,  the  three  volumes  of  "Systematic 
Theology,"  by  Chas.  Hodge  of  Princeton  (+1878),  together 
with  the  works  of  L.  F.  Stearns,  H.  B.  Smith  and  Wm. 
Schedd  of  Union  Theol.  Sem.  in  New  York,  represent  the 
strict  and  the  moderate  Calvinism  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  the  "Systematic  Theology"  of  A.  H.  Strong 
of  Rochester,  the  viewpoint  of  the  Baptist  denomination. 
All  these  and  many  other  most  valuable  works,  published 
in  America  and  in  Europe,  give  a  systematic  exposition  of 
Christian  doctrine,  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible  as  the  standard  of  religious  belief. 

A  great  change,  however,  in  religious  thought  and  ex- 
pression has  taken  place  during  the  last  fifty  years.  Since 
the  publication  of  C.  Darwin's  "Origin  of  Species,"  in  1859, 
the  theory  of  evolution  has  pretty  generally  been  accepted, 
and  not  only  in  matters  of  science.  In  every  department 
of  thought  the  idea  of  development  prevails.  The  Christian 
religion,  also,  is  a  part  of  the  world's  development  and  is  a 


PART  FIHST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


29 


historic  religion.  Therefore,  in  order  to  be  properly  under- 
stood, it  must  be  studied  in  connection  with  the  general 
history  of  humanity.  The  Bible  in  particular,  as  a  part  of 
the  sacred  literature  of  the  world,  yet  with  the  claim  of 
being  the  inspired  record  of  divine  revelation,  is  subjected 
to  a  critical  historical  examination.  "Higher  criticism" 
enquires  into  the  origin,  composition  and  authoritative  value 
of  every  part  of  the  Canon.  This  enquiry  frequently  leads 
to  negative  results. 

There  have  been  so  many  surprising  discoveries  in  science 
and  biology,  in  geology  and  ancient  monuments,  in  psy- 
chology and  comparative  religion,  that  the  old  belief  in  the 
Bible  and  in  the  truth  of  the  Christian  faith  has,  in  the 
case  of  many  professed  Christians,  given  way  to  doubt  and 
unbelief.  Many  real  or  supposed  bulwarks  of  Christian 
doctrine  have  fallen  or  are  crumbling  away.  There  is  a 
general  tendency  among  younger  "scholars"  to  disparage 
all  traditional  authority,  to  exaggerate  discrepancies  and 
difficulties  found  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  Christian  belief, 
and  to  make  sweeping  assertions  as  to  what  may  or  may  not 
be  accepted  as  true.  At  the  Universities  and  Divinity 
schools,  the  teachers  of  theology  are  divided  into  two  camps; 
the  old,  so-called  traditional,  and  the  modem  theology,  the 
advanced  or  radical  and  the  positive  or  conservative  party, 
the  old  faith  and  the  new.  The  attempts  of  some  of  the 
foremost  leaders  in  German  theology  at  mediating  between 
the  two  extremes,  like  A.  Harnack  in  "What  is  Christian- 
ity?" and  Albert  Ritschl  (J 822-1 889),  in  "Die  christliche 
Lehre  von  der  Rechtfertigung  und  Versohnung,"  have 
proved  satisfactory  to  neither  side. 

There  must  come  a  better  general  understanding  of  what 
are  the  essentials  of  the  Christian  faith  and  what  are  non- 
essentials. The  real  issue  centers  in  the  two  questions:  1.  Is 
the  Bible  simply  a  book  like  other  books  of  human  litera- 
ture, a  product  of  the  human  mind  and  human  develop- 


30 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


ment,  or  is  it  in  any  sense  a  record  of  divine  revelation  and 
the  inspired  "word  of  God?"  2.  Is  the  religious  life  and 
belief  of  mankind  a  natural  or  a  supernatural  process? 
Does  it  come  from  man  only  or  was  it  given  and  directed  by 
God?  Was  Jesus  Christ  simply  a  religious  enthusiast  or  is 
he  our  Saviour? 

The  increased  general  interest  in  the  person  of  Christ 
and  the  great  revival  and  success  of  missionary  activity  are 
the  two  most  cheering  evidences  of  the  undying  vitality  of 
the  Christian  faith.  They  also  pledge  the  continued  up- 
holding of  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christian  theology,  as 
founded  on  the  Bible  and  personal  experience. 


part  ©ne— <Bot>  tbe  Greator. 


Chapter  VII.    The  Nature  and  Attributes  of  God. 
1.  Can  we  know  God? 

The  philosopher  Schelling  defined  the  divine  Being  as  a 
dark  primary  substance  which  cannot  be  fathomed  by  the 
Being  itself,  and  Herbert  Spencer  declares  it  "the  most 
certain  of  all  facts  that  the  power  which  the  Universe  mani- 
fests to  us,  is  utterly  inscrutable."  Contrary  to  these  state- 
ments, the  Bible  tells  us  that  men  may  and  should  know 
God  (Rom.  1:19,  John  17:3).  While  it  is  plain  that  finite 
man  cannot  fully  comprehend  an  infinite  God,  that  such 
knowledge  can  only  go  as  far  as  God  has  pleased  to  reveal 
himself  and  as  far  as  man  consciously  enters  into  the  fel- 
lowship of  God,  yet  it  pleased  God  to  make  himself  known 
to  man.  Our  knowledge  of  God,  as  Augustine  has  shown  by 
an  illustration,  may  be  as  imperfect  and  circumscribed  as 
that  of  the  little  boy  at  the  seashore  who  lets  the  tide  run 
into  a  hole  which  he  has  scooped  out  of  the  sand  in  order  to 
have  his  own  sea.  But  if  God  himself  has  taught  man  to 
know  him,  such  knowledge  must  be  pure  and  precious. 

2.  Oneness  of  God. 

We  know,  in  the  first  place,  that  there  is  but  one  God. 
This  was  a  fundamental  principle  of  Old  Testament  teach- 
ing: "Hear,  O  Israel,  Jehovah,  thy  God,  is  one  God"  (Deut. 
6:4).  It  is  distinctly  corroborated  by  the  testimony  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles:  "There  is  one  God,  and  there  is 
none  other  but  he"  (Mark  12:32),  comp.  Eph.  4:6  and 
I  Cor.  8 :4-6.  This  truth  is,  furthermore,  apparent  from 
the  unity  of  design  in  the  Universe.  Uniformity  of  law 
throughout  the  creation  proclaims  the  unity  of  the  Creator. 
The  notion  of  1wo  or  more  Gods  is  self-contradictory.  One 


32 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


absolute  God  is  sufficient  to  create  and  to  govern  the  world, 
a  second  one  would  be  superfluous.  There  cannot  be  two 
beings  infinitely  perfect,  since  the  perfections  of  the  one 
would  include  those  of  tie  other;  and  finally,  two  Gods 
could  not  be  omnipotent,  since  the  one  could  not  act  without 
the  consent  of  the  other.  In  short,  divine  perfection  allows 
of  no  division,  dualism  or  polytheism. 

3.  Methods  of  Defining  the  Nature  of  God. 

In  endeavoring  to  define  the  Being  of  God  and  to  predi- 
cate anything  about  him,  two  methods  can  be  pursued: 
a.  The  inductive  or  Bible  method.  This  takes  the  Bible  as 
the  decisive  authority  with  regard  to  God's  attributes  and 
collects  the  various  declarations  there  found,  which  are  then 
simply  classified  under  general  heads.  b.  The  rational 
method.  This  method  takes  man  as  the  "image  of  God" 
for  a  starting  point,  and  proceeds  to  define  the  nature  of 
God  by  way  of  negation  and  eminence.  It  denies  the  ex- 
istence of  any  imperfections  in  God,  that  may  be  found  in 
created  beings,  and  ascribes  to  him  absolutely  all  the  per- 
fections found  in  man,  adding  whatever  may  be  necessary 
to  explain  his  manifestation  to  the  world. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  these  attributes,  so  far  as  they 
are  derived  from  human  conditions  and  couched  in  human 
language,  can  but  imperfectly  express  the  nature  of  God; 
but  their  Biblical  endorsement  as  well  as  our  Christian  con- 
sciousness assure  us  that  they  are  not  merely  human  con- 
ceptions of  a  finite  mind. 

4.  The  Personality  of  God. 

We  find  in  the  New  Testament  two  brief  definitions  of 
the  Being  of  God,  the  one  in  John  4 :24,  as  given  by  Christ 
to  the  Samaritan  woman:  "God  is  Spirit,"  the  other  from 
the  apostle,  in  I  John  4:8:  "God  is  Love."  These  two 
declarations  are  both  fundamental  and  comprehensive. 

a.  God  is  Spirit,  must  mean,  in  the  first  place,  that  he  is 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


33 


not  material,  that  is  not  visibly  or  tangibly  perceived,  and 
not  compounded.  If  he  were  a  material  Being,  he  would 
not  be  infinite  nor  immutable.  The  term  "Spirit"  also  im- 
plies self-consciousness  and  self-determination.  Man  has  a 
spirit  which  gradually  develops  into  conscious  life,  with 
thought,  feeling  and  volition;  but  God  is  all  Spirit  and 
therefore  has  all  knowledge  and  metaphysical  attributes 
from  the  beginning. 

b.  In  like  manner  the  declaration,  "God  is  Love"  desig- 
nates him  as  the  perfection  of  ethical  attributes.  Man  is 
able  to  love  and  pure,  unselfish  love  is  man's  highest  ac- 
complishment. It  is  this  that  distinguishes  man  from  the 
brute  creation,  that  he  has  a  spirit  and  can  love.  That 
constitutes  him  a  personal  being,  intellectually  and  morally. 
But  man's  personality  is  limited.  God,  in  whose  image  man 
was  created,  must  be  the  absolute  personality,  metaphysic- 
ally and  ethically  the  superlative  of  the  human  personality. 
(Exod.  3:14). 

Pantheists  object  to  the  ascribing  of  the  term  "person- 
ality" to  the  supreme  Being,  because  the  distinction  be- 
tween subject  and  object,  self  and  not-self  in  a  personality 
implies  limitation.  But  the  true  definition  of  personality  is 
not  limitation,  rather  full  control  of  every  part  and  faculty, 
self  determination  in  the  fullest  sense,  the  complete  harmony 
between  the  subject  and  the  object.  A  human  personality, 
indeed,  is  subject  to  the  limitations  of  time  and  space,  but 
God,  the  absolute  personality,  is  not.  He  would  not  be 
the  Absolute  one,  if  he  were  not  also  the  absolute  personality. 

5.  Metaphysical  Attributes. 

The  attributes  of  God,  that  is  the  qualities  and  faculties 
which  we  ascribe  to  him,  on  the  authority  of  the  Bible  and 
of  their  manifestation,  can  be  divided  into  classes,  in  various 
ways.    We  classify  them  under  the  two  heads  indicated  by 
3 


.34 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


the  terms:  Spirit  and  Love,  as  metaphysical  and  moral 
Attributes.    First,  the  metaphysical: 

a.  Eternal.  Every  created  being  has  the  ground  of  its 
existence  in  something  else,  God  must  be  independent  of 
any  other  existence.  He  is  the  first  cause  of  every  thing 
and  the  source  of  life.  He  is  without  beginning  or  end. 
Man  may  be  said  to  live  in  the  past  and  future  only,  to  God 
all  time  is  an  eternal  present.  Time  is  to  him  but  the  mode 
of  existence  which  he  has  appointed  for  his  creatures,  to 
appear  and  to  vanish  in  successive  ages.  There  was  no  time, 
when  he  was  not  and  there  will  be  none,  when  he  shall  not 
be.    (Psalm  90  :l-2,  Isaiah  48  :12.) 

b.  Unchangeable.  All  created  beings  change,  but  God  is 
immutable.  As  he  is  neither  material  nor  compounded,  he 
cannot  increase  nor  decrease.  All  change  must  be  for  better 
or  for  worse,  but  God  is  absolute  perfection.  His  knowledge 
and  power  cannot  become  greater  or  less,  nor  can  he  become 
holier  or  more  gracious  than  he  ever  was.  No  change  can 
be  produced  by  any  outside  cause,  because  he  is  not  depend- 
ent on  anything.  He  appears  changed  simply,  because  of 
the  changing  position  of  the  creature  toward  him,  as  the 
sun  "goes  down,"  when  the  earth  turns  away  from  it.  But 
immutability  does  not  mean  inactivity,  nor  is  it  inconsistent 
with  perfect  freedom.    Psalm  102 :27,  James  1 :17. 

c.  Omnipresent.  God's  presence  is  not  limited  by  space, 
be  it  a  heaven  or  an  earthly  abode.  He  is  immanent  in  the 
universe,  not  by  compulsion,  but  by  the  free  act  of  his  own 
will,  and  he  transcends  all  creation.  His  is  not  a  material 
omnipresence,  else  there  would  be  a  division,  one  part  of 
God  here  and  another  elsewhere.  It  is  a  dynamical  presence 
of  God  in  the  universe.  With  this  omnipresence  the  Scrip- 
tural declaration  that  heaven  is  the  throne  of  God  does  not 
conflict.  For  he  can  manifest  his  glory  more  brightly  in  the 
realm  which  we  call  heaven,  be  that  a  locality  or  merely  a 
sphere  of  activity.    Psalm  139  :7-10,  Acts  17 :28. 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


35 


d.  Omniscient  and  Allwise.  Human  knowledge  is  limited 
in  many  respects,  but  all  knowable  things  are  known  to 
God,  because  be  himself  is  the  eternal  light.  His  knowledge 
is  all  pervading,  a  direct  beholding  of  whatever  exists  in  all 
its  extension  and  to  its  deepest  ground.  He  knows  things 
future,  as  well  as  things  past,  not  only  what  is,  but  also 
what  may  be.  God  foreknows  even  the  free  will  and  the 
free  acts  of  man,  because  man's  thought  and  determination 
are  compassed  about  by  the  creator.  God  is  all  wise,  always 
selecting  the  best  means  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  pur- 
pose. His  wisdom  is  made  manifest  everywhere  in  the  realm 
of  nature,  but  most  of  all  in  the  plan  of  salvation.  Psalm 
139  :l-4,  Romans  11 :33. 

e.  Almighty.  We  predicate  of  God  Omnipotence — that  is 
power  without  limitation.  He  can  do  whatever  he  wills  and 
there  is  nothing  impossible  with  God.  He  can  accomplish 
whatever  is  an  object  of  power.  But  God's  will  is  de- 
termined by  his  nature;  therefore  he  cannot  do  anything 
that  would  be  contrary  to  himself.  He  can  do  all  that  he 
will,  but  he  cannot  will  what  is  contrary  to  his  own  law. 
As  light  cannot  be  darkness,  so  God  can  do  no  evil.  Psalm 
135 :6,  Luke  1 :37. 

6.  Moral  Attributes. 

Taking  the  term  "Love"  in  its  most  comprehensive  sense, 
we  may  class  under  this  head  four  moral  attributes,  which 
we  find  most  frequently  ascribed  to  God  in  the  Scriptures 
and  which  express  the  love  of  God  in  its  various  aspects, 
both  as  divine  self-preservation  and  as  a  caring  for  the 
happiness  of  other  beings. 

a.  Holy.  God  is  holy.  His  moral  excellence,  first  of  all, 
consists  in  being  absolutely  pure  and  perfect,  without  any 
blemish  or  defect.  He  is  forever  separated  from  and  averse 
to  anything  that  is  unholy  or  impure,  a  consuming  fire 
which  destroys  whatever  is  unholy.  The  negative  aspect  of 
this  manifestation  of  God's  holiness  is  sometimes  called  the 


36 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


wrath  of  God,  or  we  find  it  stated  that  he  is  a  "jealous" 
God.   Isaiah  6:3,  I  Pet.  1:16. 

b.  Righteous  and  true.  God  is  righteous  in  all  his  works, 
that  is  uniform  in  all  his  dealings.  This  attribute  of  God 
again  presents  a  positive  and  a  negative  aspect.  He  is  true 
to  himself  and  faithful  toward  all  who  work  righteousness. 
His  promises  are  "yea  and  amen,"  but  he  cannot  indulge 
the  sinner.  He  must  condemn  sin,  as  opposed  to  his  holy 
law,  and  he  cannot  pardon  the  guilty,  unless  the  demands 
of  justice  are  complied  with.    Deut.  32  :4,  Rom.  2  :6. 

c.  Kind  and  good.  God  is  good.  By  this  attribute  we 
understand  the  principle  of  God's  nature  which  leads  him 
to  favor  all  his  creatures  by  communicating  to  them  his  own 
blessedness,  as  far  as  they  are  able  to  receive  his  gifts.  Such 
goodness  of  God  is  manifest  in  his  providence  and  in  all  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  blessings  vouchsafed  to  man.  Ps. 
145  :8,  9,  Matth.  5 :45. 

d.  Merciful  and  gracious.  Mercy  is  that  attribute  of  God 
which  causes  him  to  seek  the  temporal  good  and  eternal 
salvation  even  of  those,  who  do  not  deserve  his  love.  This 
attribute  is  of  primary  importance  to  the  sinner  and  to  fallen 
humanity.  The  Lord  is  long  suffering  and  full  of  com- 
passion. His  mercy  has  been  fully  revealed  in  the  re- 
demption of  our  race  through  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour 
Exod.  34 :6,  7,  John  3  :16. 

Chapter  VIII.    The  Holy  Trinity. 

1.    The  Idea  of  the  Trinity. 

The  term  "Trinity"  is  not  found  in  the  Bible,  although 
the  conception  which  it  expresses  is  Biblical.  It  represents 
the  truth,  that  in  the  one  God  whom  we  worship  there  are 
certain  "distinctions,"  which  are  expressed  by  various 
names,  but  most  frequently  under  the  figure  of  three  per- 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


37 


sons,  as  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit.  The  existence  of 
such  a  distinction  in  God  may  be  surmised  on  philosophic 
grounds,  as  implied  in  the  idea  of  the  divine  personality. 
If  God  was  eternally  self-conscious,  he  must  be  objective  to 
himself,  and  if  thinking  and  being  in  God  must  be  identical, 
the  distinction  of  thought  involves  the  distinction  of 
existence.  Again  the  "love"  of  God  requires  an  eternal 
object  of  his  affection.  This  object  could  not  have  been 
first  supplied  by  the  creation  of  the  world;  he  must  have 
possessed  it  in  himself,  or  else  he  would  have  needed  the 
world  to  become  perfect.  Thus  reason  supports  the  idea  of 
a  plurality  in  the  divine  essence. 

Traces  of  a  belief  in  a  threefold  distinction  are  found  in 
the  mythologies  of  the  various  pagan  nations,  as  that  of  the 
Greeks,  Germans  and  Chinese.  The  Babylonian  Magi 
taught,  that  there  was  a  threefold  mind  of  God,  viz.,  the 
supernatural  or  the  first  cause,  the  filial  or  world  builder, 
and  the  wisdom  of  God.  Similarly  Plato  distinguished  in 
the  divine  Being,  first,  his  essence  ("the  good")  ;  second, 
the  "reason"  or  "word"  (Logos),  as  the  revelation  of  God; 
third,  the  "world-soul,"  which  produced  the  universe. 
However,  the  Christian  idea  of  the  Trinity  is  based  upon 
the  Bible. 

2.  The  Biblical  Testimony. 

In  the  Old  Testament  we  find  but  few  indications  of  a 
distinction  or  plurality  in  God,  such  as  the  following: 

a.  The  use  of  the  plural  form  in  the  divine  names,  Elohim 
and  Adonai  and  in  passages  like:  "Let  us  make  man"  and 
"let  us  go  down"  (Gen.  1 :26  and  11 :7). 

b.  The  "angel  of  the  Lord"  and  the  "angel  of  the  face," 
to  whom  divine  honor  is  rendered  (Gen.  22:15,  16,  Judges 
6:12,  14). 

c.  Passages  where  Jehovah  is  distinguished  from  Jehovah 
(Gen.  19  :24,  Psalm  110  :l-2). 


38 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


d.  The  Spirit  and  the  Word  of  God  are  distinguished 
from  God  in  Gen.  1:2,  3,  Isaiah  55:11,  Ps.  104:30,  etc. 

e.  The  threefold  repetition  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  in  the 
Old  Testament  benediction  (Numb.  6:24-26)  and  the  three- 
fold "Holy"  of  the  Seraph-song  in  Isaiah  6  :3. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  distinction  of  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Spirit  is  clearly  taught. 

a.  In  a  few  passages  the  three  are  named  side  by  side,  viz., 
in  the  formula  of  baptism  (Matth.  28  :18-20)  ;  in  the  New 
Testament  benediction  (II  Cor.  13:14),  and  in  I  Pet.  1:2. 
The  two  last  named,  however,  substitute  the  name  of  Christ 
for  the  Son.  To  them  may  be  added  yet  I  Cor.  12  :4-6.  "JSTow 
there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit,  and  there 
are  diversities  of  ministration,  and  the  same  Lord.  And 
there  are  diversities  of  workings,  but  the  same  God,  who 
worketh  all  things  in  all." 

b.  More  frequently,  the  three  are  mentioned  separately  as 
divine.  Thus  we  read  of  God  the  Father  in  I  Cor.  8  :6  and 
Eph.  4 :6 ;  of  the  Son  in  Hebr.  1 :2  and  Gal.  4 :4 ;  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  a  personal  Being  in  Acts  13  :2 :  "The  Holy 
Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work, 
whereunto  I  have  called  them."  Christ  in  speaking  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  John  16 :8,  uses  the  personal  pronoun  "He," 
and  in  I  Cor.  2  :10  and  13,  the  Spirit  is  said  to  act  by  search- 
ing all  things  and  teaching  men. 

3.    Relation  and  Work  of  the  Three. 
"With  regard  to  the  respective  functions  of  Father,  Son 
and  Spirit,  we  find  four  facte  predicated  of  each  of  the 
three: 

a.  Of  the  Father:  1.  He  is  the  first  cause,  the  origin  of 
all  things.  (Rom.  11:36.)  2.  He  is  the  Father  of  the  Son 
of  God,  as  the  only  begotten  and  the  object  of  his  love  (John 
17:5).  3.  He  made  the  worlds  through  the  Son  (Heb.  1:2) 
and  reconciled  the  world  to  himself  (II  Cor.  5:18,  19). 
4.  He  draws  men  to  the  Son,  in  order  to  save  them  (John 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


39 


6:44),  and  adopts  them  as  children  and  sons  of  God  in  the 
only  begotten  one  (I  John  3:1). 

b.  Of  the  Son:  1.  He  is  the  eternal  son  of  the  Father, 
begotten  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  and  equal  with 
him  in  glory  and  power  (John  17:5,  Heb.  1:3).  2.  He 
came  forth  from  heaven,  in  order  to  reveal  the  Father  unto 
men  and  to  do  the  Father's  will  (John  1:18  and  6:38). 
3.  Through  him  all  things  were  created  and  in  him  all 
things  consist  (Col.  1:16,  17).  4.  He  is  the  mediator  of 
salvation,  by  whom  alone  men  can  be  saved  (John  3:16). 

c.  Of  the  Spirit:  1.  He  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  knowing 
and  revealing  the  deep  things  of  God.  He  proceeds  from 
the  Father  and  is  sent  by  the  Son  (I  Cor.  2  :10,  John  15 :26). 
2.  He  brooded  over  the  waters  of  the  natural  creation  with 
quickening  power  and  gives  light  and  life  in  the  moral 
world  (Gen.  1:2,  John  14:26).  3.  By  his  "overshadowing" 
the  "word  was  made  flesh"  and  Christ,  the  Saviour,  was 
baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit  (Luke  1 :35,  John  1 :14  and 
26).  4.  He  guides  men  into  the  truth,  regenerates  the  soul 
and  dwells  in  the  children  of  God  as  the  principle  of 
spiritual  life  (John  16:13,  Rom.  5:5). 

4.  Church  Controversies. 

This  being  the  substance  of  Biblical  teaching  concerning 
the  Trinity,  the  Apostolic  Church  made  no  attempt  at 
further  defining,  how  these  distinctions  in  the  triune  God 
should  be  understood.  Learned  Christians  of  the  second 
century,  like  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  had  studied  the 
Platonic  philosophy,  first  began  to  apply  Platonic  terms  to 
this  point  of  Christian  doctrine,  comparing  the  Son  to 
"reason"  and  the  Spirit  to  "virtue"  in  man.  The  word 
Trias  came  from  the  Alexandrian  School  and  Tertullian 
was  the  first  to  use  its  Latin  form,  Trinitas. 

A.  D.  190  a  controversy  began  between  Tertullian  and  the 
Greek  Praxeas,  the  latter  contending  that  Father,  Son  and 
Spirit  are  not  different  subjects,  but  three  manifestations  of 


40 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


the  same  subject.  One  of  his  followers,  Sabellius,  gave  to 
this  idea  the  definite  form:  "There  is  but  one  divine  Hy- 
postasis (substance  or  existence)  ,but  three  modes  of  ap- 
pearance or  manifestation."  This  declaration  involved  a 
denial  of  the  eternal  existence  of  the  Son  of  God  and  called 
forth  a  decided  protest  from  many  theologians,  who  styled 
the  followers  of  Sabellius,  "Patripassians,"  that  is,  men 
who  say  that  God  the  father  himself  suffered  and  died  on 
the  cross,  because  they  believe  in  but  one  divine  substance 
or  existence.  In  218  A.  D.  another  dispute  arose  on  the 
Trinity.  Arius  of  Alexandria  contended  thai:  the  Son  of 
God  did  exist  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  but  as  the  first 
creature.  He  was  not  of  the  same  essence  with  the  Father, 
not  like  him,  but  similar.  Arius,  though  deposed  from  office 
and  excommunicated,  secured  the  adherence  of  large  num- 
bers both  of  the  clergy  and  laity  to  his  view.  This  con- 
troversy, finally,  led  to  the  convening  of  the  first  ecumenical 
Church  Council  at  Nice  in  Nicomedia,  A.  D.  325,  in  order  to 
have  the  question  settled. 

5.  The  Orthodox  Creed. 
The  Nicene  Creed  has  ever  since  been  regarded  as  the 
standard  of  orthodox  belief,  with  regard  to  the  Holy 
Trinity.  Beginning  with  "We  believe  in  one  God,  the 
Father  almighty,"  etc.,  it  continues:  "and  in  one  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  only  begotten,  begotten  of  the 
Father,  i.  e.,  of  the  essence  of  the  Father,  God  of  God,  Light 
of  Light,  very  God  of  very  God,  begotten  and  not  made, 
consubstantial  with  the  Father,  by  whom  all  things  are 
made  in  heaven  or  on  earth,  etc. .  .  .  and  we  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost.  But  those  who  say  that  there  was  a  time, 
when  the  Son  was  not,  that  he  was  not  before  he  was  made, 
or  was  made  out  of  nothing,  or  of  another  or  different 
essence  or  substance,  that  he  was  a  creation  or  mutable  or 
susceptible  of  change,  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  anathe- 
matizes." 


PART   FIRST — GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


41 


With  regard  to  the  Spirit,  the  Nicene  Council  as  yet  had 
no  detailed  declaration,  although  it  was  the  general  under- 
standing that  the  Holy  Spirit  also  was  "consubstantial  with 
the  Father."  But  as  some  disputed  this,  a  second  ecumeni- 
cal Council  was  called  at  Constantinople,  A.  D.  381,  to  de- 
cide that  point.  Here  the  following  was  added:  "Who  is 
the  Lord  and  giver  of  life,  who  proceeded  from  the  Father." 
Some  Greek  theologians  and  the  majority  of  the  Roman 
divines,  then,  contended  that  the  Spirit  proceeds  not  from 
the  Father  only,  but  also  "from  the  Son."  In  the  sixth 
century  this  question  again  appeared  of  great  importance, 
because  the  followers  of  Arius  who  had  gained  many  con- 
verts, pointed  to  the  "proceeded  from  the  Father"  as  an 
endorsement  of  their  contention,  that  the  Son  was  not  equal 
with  the  Father.  Thereupon  the  Roman  churches  had  an- 
other Council  called  in  the  city  of  Toledo  in  Spain,  A.  D. 
589.  Here  it  was  decided  to  add  the  words  "and  from  the 
Son"  (Filioque).  As  this  was  no  "Ecumenical"  Council, 
the  Greek  Churches  did  not  accept  the  decision  and  the 
controversy,  stimulated  by  the  rivalry  between  the  Metro- 
politan of  Constantinople  and  the  Pope  of  Rome,  continued 
until  in  the  eleventh  century,  when  it  became  one  of  the 
leading  causes  in  the  division  between  the  Greek  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  Churches. 

6.  The  Disputed  Points. 
As  to  the  "Filioque"  (and  from  the  Son),  it  may  be 
stated  that  although  Holy  Scripture  nowhere  expressly 
teaches  it  and  the  Greek  Church  has  this  in  her  favor,  yet 
we  find  that  whatever  is  predicated  of  the  Spirit's  relation 
to  the  Father,  is  also  predicated  of  his  relation  to  the  Son. 
The  Apostle  Paul  calls  the  Spirit  of  God, — the  Spirit  of 
Christ — and  in  that  sense  at  least,  he  proceeds  from  the  Son. 
In  general,  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  has  been  substanti- 
ally left  by  the  Christian  Church,  where  the  Councils  of  the 
fourth  century  placed  it.    The  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth 


42 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


century  had  other  points  of  doctrine,  of  greater  practical 
importance,  to  discuss  and  to  decide  and  the  Protestant 
creeds  simply  incorporated  the  Trinity  dogma  as  given  in 
the  Catholic  creed.  However,  the  teachings  of  Sabellius 
and  of  Arius,  though  condemned  by  the  Church  as  heresies, 
frequently  in  one  form  or  another  found  new  defenders, 
and  the  sixteenth  century  added  a  new  heresy,  under  the 
name  of  Socinianism.  Two  professors,  Laelius  and  Faustus 
Socinus,  uncle  and  nephew,  attacked  the  ISTicene  creed  as 
teaching  three  Gods,  God  Father,  God  Son  and  God  Spirit. 
They  taught  that  Christ  was  not  an  incarnation  of  the  Son 
of  God,  but  a  human  being  like  ourselves,  and  only  after 
his  death  exalted  to  divine  honor,  a  deified  man;  and  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  a  divine  person,  but  a  mode  of  divine 
operation.    Their  followers  became  known  as  Unitarians. 

It  must  be  said  that  this  Socinian  Unitarianism  is  not  in 
accord  with  Scripture  doctrine.  The  Bible  distinctly  teaches 
a  divine  Trinity  of  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  but  as  to 
the  exact  nature  of  this  Trinity  several  questions  are  open 
to  discussion,  such  as:  whether  the  Trinity  of  revelation 
necessarily  involves  an  immanent,  or  ontological  Trinity? 
whether  it  is  a  threefold  existence  or  only  a  threefold  mode 
of  existence  in  one  divine  personality?  whether  the  designa- 
tion of  three  persons  in  the  Godhead  is  appropriate? 

If,  as  we  believe,  the  revelation  of  God  to  the  world  is  the 
exposition  of  his  true  being,,  it  appears  that  the  temporal  or 
economic  Trinity,  as  it  has  been  called,  must  have  a  corre- 
sponding immanent  and  eternal  Trinity.  Again,  if  the 
Father  begets  the  Son  and  if  the  Spirit  proceeds  from  the 
Father,  if,  as  John  writes  (John  1:1-2),  the  ""Word  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God,"  a  threefold  personality  also  ap- 
pears well  proven.  The  term:  "three  persons,"  however,  is 
not  derived  from  Scripture  and  in  the  present  use  of  the 
word  is  somewhat  objectionable,  because  in  different  human 
persons  there  is  no  unity  of  substance.    Originally,  "per- 


PART  FIRST — GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


43 


sona"  simply  meant  a  mask  worn  by  an  actor  and  then  the 
part  or  character  played  by  him. 

In  whatever  form  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  may  be 
stated,  it  contains  a  mystery  which  transcends  our  under- 
standing. Nor  is  it  essential  that  we  should  penetrate  this 
mystery.  We  may  be  thankful,  that  in  formulating  the 
general  Creed  of  the  Christian  Church  this  and  other  points 
of  doctrine  were  examined  and  defined  by  the  Church 
Fathers,  with  the  acumen  peculiar  to  the  Greek  mind  and 
language,  but  we  do  not  attach  as  much  importance  to  such 
definitions.  We  know  that  the  practical  New  Testament 
confession  of  belief  in  the  Trinity  is  not :  We  have  "one 
God  Father,  one  God  Son  and  one  God  Holy  Spirit,"  but 
"one  God,  the  Father,  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Spirit 
of  God"  (I  Cor.  8:6  and  7:40). 

7.  Illustrations  and  Practical  Aspect. 
Analogies  for  the  mystery  of  the  triune  God  have  been 
found  both  in  unities  which  contain  a  plurality  and  in 
pluralities  which  form  a  unity.    Such  are: 

a.  Inanimate  objects:  A  triangle  with  three  sides;  a 
flame  with  three  points;  space  having  the  three  dimensions 
of  length,  breadth,  and  thickness;  electricity,  manifested  in 
heat,  light  and  motion;  a  plant,  containing  root,  stalk  and 
flower. 

b.  Man.  Man,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  consists  of  body, 
soul  and  spirit ;  has  the  three  faculties,  of  intellect,  emotion 
and  will,  or  of  knowledge,  love  and  power. 

c.  The  family.  This  illustration,  in  the  form  of  father 
and  son,  is  directly  authorized  by  Scripture  and  alluded  to 
in  I  Cor.  11 :3  and  3  :23,  though  we  are  hardly  warranted  in 
representing  the  Spirit  as  the  "mother,"  as  some  have 
done. 

For  the  practical  importance  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  the  following  points  may  be  mentioned:  a.  It  helps 
us  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  eternal  independence 


44 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


and  blessedness  of  the  triune  God.  b.  It  enables  us  to  under- 
stand, bow  Christ  could  become  the  Saviour  and  mediator 
between  God  and  man,  because  the  son  of  God  became  in- 
carnate in  him.  c.  It  shows,  how  by  the  Holy  Spirit's  dwell- 
ing in  the  hearts  of  men,  humanity  can  be  truly  united  with 
God  (John  3:5). 

Chapter  IX.    The  Creation  of  the  World. 
1.  The  Meaning  of  Creation. 

We  believe  in  God  "the  creator  of  heaven  and  earth," 
that  is  both  of  the  visible  and  invisible  world  (Gen.  1:1). 
When  we  say  that  God  created  the  universe,  we  mean  that, 
by  an  act  of  free  will,  he  produced  something,  without  the 
use  of  preexisting  materials,  something  which  was  not  be- 
fore. This  statement  meets  with  the  objection,  that  "nothing 
can  come  out  of  nothing."  Ancient  mythologies  and  philoso- 
phies assumed  an  eternal  existence  of  matter.  Plato  taught 
that  God  formed  a  world-soul  by  mixing  divine  ideas  with 
matter  and  thus  moulding  the  visible  world.  Similarly, 
modern  scientists  assume  a  primeval  condition  of  the  universe 
in  a  chaotic  diffusion  of  matter,  with  all  the  properties  and 
powers  latent  in  it,  which  afterwards  became  apparent.  But 
such  scientific  belief  does  not  explain  the  origin  of  matter 
itself  nor  answer  the  question,  how  inorganic  material  could 
ever  have  evolved  into  living  forms,  without  a  conscious 
intelligence  directing  such  evolution. 

If  the  principle,  that  nothing  comes  out  of  nothing,  means 
that  there  can  be  no  effect  without  cause,  it  does  not  conflict 
with  the  belief  in  a  creator.  For  the  cause  of  the  world  is 
not  nothing,  but  an  almighty  and  all  wise  God.  Heb.  11 :3 
teaches,  that  "the  worlds  have  been  framed  by  the  word  of 
God,  so  that,  what  is  seen  hath  not  been  made  out  of  things 
which  appear,"  but  has  its  origin  in  the  infinite  faculties  and 
potencies  of  divine  power  (Rom.  4:17). 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


45 


2.  The  Object  of  Creation. 

It  has  been  claimed  by  some,  tbat  a  creation  in  time  would 
involve  a  change  in  God  from  inaction  to  activity.  For  that 
reason,  Origen  assumed  that  there  was  an  eternal  succession 
of  created  worlds.  But  creation  from  eternity  is  a  contra- 
diction in  terms.  The  Christian  belief  in  the  Trinity  im- 
plies an  eternal  activity  within  the  divine  Being,  which 
needs  no  created  world.  The  world  is  eternal  only  in  the 
sense  of  Eph.  3:11,  that  it  was  created  according  to  an 
"eternal  purpose,"  but  not  in  its  material  existence.  There 
was  a  time  when  there  was  no  world.  Its  creation  was  an 
act  of  God's  free  will.  No  outside  necessity  constrained 
him  to  create.  He  did  not  need  the  world,  to  have  an  object 
of  his  love,  because  the  rriune  God  was  sufficient  unto  him- 
self and  he  had  in  the  Trinity  an  abundant  scope  for  the 
exercise  of  divine  activity.  On  the  other  hand,  it  follows 
from  the  nature  of  an  infinite  Being,  that  the  final  object 
of  the  creation  must  be  in  God  and  not  outside  of  him. 

This  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  God  created  the  world 
for  his  own  glory,  in  the  manifestation  of  his  divine  excel- 
lence. Such  manifestation  of  his  perfection,  however,  as 
the  God  of  love,  implies  the  happiness  of  his  creatures. 
Hence  it  has  been  well  said,  that  the  world  was  created  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  for  the  happiness  of  the  creature. 

3.  Creation  and  Evolution. 

A  divine  creation  does  not  exclude  orderly  growth  and 
development.  While  the  visible  world  is  to  us  first  of  all 
"creatura,"  it  is  also  "natura,"  an  organism  regulated  by 
fixed  laws.  Its  forces  and  elements  are  unfolded  in  a  great 
variety  of  forms,  but  under  the  absolute  control  of  the 
divine  will.  Natural  science  deals  mainly  with  the  laws  of 
natural  development,  without  reference  to  tbe  lawgiver, 
while  theology  emphasizes  more  the  fact  that  behind  all  the 
laws  of  nature  stands  the  name  of  God  Almighty,  as  the 
first  and  last  cause  of  all  finite  things.    But  neither  the 


46 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Nebular  Hypothesis  nor  any  other  theory  of  Evolution  is 
necessarily  antagonistic  to  revelation,  as  long  as  it  ac- 
knowledges that  it  is  God  who  fixed  the  laws  of  evolution 
and  who  rules  by  them.  If  science  should  render  it  certain, 
that  all  present  species  of  living  creatures  were  derived  by 
natural  descent  from  a  few  original  germs,  we  should  not, 
therefore,  lose  the  belief  in  the  divine  creation.  Evolution 
presupposes  something  that  evolves  and  that  must  first  have 
been  created. 

4.  The  Mosaic  Record. 
How  the  world  came  into  existence  and  how  it  attained  its 
present  status,  cannot  be  known  by  the  testimony  of  eye- 
witnesses. Nor  is  it  necessary  that  we  should  have  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  birth  and  growth  of  our  earth,  further 
than  What  is  revealed  to  us  through  God's  book  of  nature  in 
the  strata  of  geology,  the  "autobiography  of  the  earth." 
We  have,  however,  in  the  opening  chapters  of  the  Bible  a 
brief  account  of  the  origin  and  gradual  formation  of  the 
earth,  which  can  rightly  claim  to  be  considered  not  the 
fanciful  conception  of  a  poetic  imagination,  but  a  simple 
statement  of  actual  events.  Unlike  the  cosmogonies  of  pagan 
nations,  such  as  is  given  in  the  Babylonian  Creation  Tablets, 
it  places  God  the  creator  at  the  head  of  the  record  and  then 
proceeds  to  give  a  pictorial  sketch  of  the  history  of  creation 
in  a  form  suited  to  the  common  mind  and  to  the  under- 
standing of  men  in  all  successive  ages.  While  it,  probably, 
rests  on  ancient  tradition  handed  down  from  primeval  times, 
it  has  approved  itself  as  composed  under  special  divine 
guidance,  by  the  remarkable  manner,  in  which  its  simple 
language  is  adapted  to  meet  the  ascertained  results  of  modern 
research. 

The  general  outline  of  its  creative  days  or  acts  agrees 
well  with  the  accepted  epochs  of  geology.  Both  teach  that 
tihere  came  first:  an  inorganic  epoch,  with  three  successive 
stages,  viz.,  a.  light,  b.  land,  and  c.  vegetation;  second:  an 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


47 


organic  epoch,  with  three  successive  stages,  viz.,  a.  the  ap- 
pearing of  fish,  b.  of  birds  and  reptiles,  c.  of  land  animals 
(mammals)  and  man. 

Chapter  X.    The  Government  of  the  World. 

1.  Preservation. 

With  the  doctrine  of  the  Creation,  that  of  the  Preserva- 
tion of  the  world  is  intimately  connected.  If  the  world  was 
called  into  being  by  God  it  must  be  absolutely  dependent 
upon  him.  It  owes  its  continued  existence  entirely  to  his 
will  and  would  cease  to  be,  if  for  one  moment  it  were  not 
supported  by  his  power.  As  the  flowing  of  a  stream  de- 
pends upon  the  supply  of  water  from  its  fountains,  so  the 
life  of  the  creation  constantly  depends  upon  the  Creator 
(Nehem.  9:6,  Ps.  104:29.) 

Two  points  are  implied  in  this  axiom  of  the  necessary 
relation  between  God  and  the  world.  One  is,  that  the 
Creator  must  fully  understand  'his  creation  in  all  its  parts. 
If  he  were  merely  the  world  builder,  the  world  might  be 
foreign  to  him  and  he  would  be  obliged  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  its  detail.  Not  so  the  Creator.  The  other 
is,  that  God  can  never  leave  the  care  of  the  world.  As 
Melanchthon  has  illustrated,  a  shipbuilder  may  go  away  from 
his  ship  and  relinquish  it  to  the  sailors,  when  completed,  but 
not  our  Lord.  This  was  the  fundamental  error  of  the  Deism 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  regarded  the  universe  as 
a  self-sustained  mechanism,  which  God  left  to  its  natural 
development  after  he  had  created  it.  The  position  of  so 
many  Christians  in  our  own  day  who,  if  not  in  theory,  at 
least  practically  hold  that  God  is  not  concerned  in  the  detail 
of  the  world's  course,  is  as  illogical  as  it  is  contrary  to 
Scripture. 

2.  Providence. 

God  not  only  preserves  and  maintains  what  he  has 
created,  he  also  provides  for  and  controls  everything  in  the 


48 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


world.  This  providence  is  both  general,— extending  over 
the  physical  world,  over  the  affairs  of  nations,  over  the 
general  events  of  human  history, — and  it  is  particular,  that 
is  including  what  seem  to  us  the  minor  affairs  of  nature  and 
human  life.  We  call  it  special  providence,  when  the  effect 
produced  bears  a  special  relation  or  makes  a  special  im- 
pression upon  us. 

Many  who  acknowledge  God's  general  providence,  deny 
the  divine  arrangement  of  particular  events.  They  hold, 
that  when  God  created  the  world,  he  fixed  the  laws  of 
nature  definitely  and  irrevocably,  so  that  there  can  be  no 
continued  intervention  on  his  part.  His  activity  is  limited 
to  the  maintenance  of  general  laws.  This  idea,  however,  is 
contrary  to  the  explicit  declarations  of  the  Bible. 

a.  In  Christ's  sermon  on  the  Mount  even  the  ordinary 
operations  of  physical  law  are  traced  to  the  particular  or 
special  providence  of  God ;  such  as  "he  sendeth  rain,"  'Tie 
feedeth  the  fowls  of  the  air  and  clothes  the  grass  of  the 
field"  (Matth.  5:45  and  6:26,  30),  and  in  another  place: 
"Not  one  sparrow  shall  fall  on  the  ground  without  your 
Father:  but  the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered" 
(Matth.  10:29,  30).  Therefore,  the  laws  of  nature  are 
under  the  constant  control  of  the  Creator  and  a  general 
control  of  the  course  of  nature  or  history  is  impossible  with- 
out control  of  particulars. 

b.  Furthermore,  the  nature  of  God,  as  the  God  of  love, 
warrants  the  assurance  that  he  watches  over  the  destinies 
of  his  creatures  in  the  smallest  details.  Indeed,  faith  in  a 
particular  providence  is  essential  to  personal  religion. 
There  can  be  no  devout  worship  without  a  direct  relation  to 
God,  without  the  belief  that  God  accepts  and  attends  to  the 
prayer  and  supplication  of  each  individual  worshipper. 

c.  Christian  experience,  also,  confirms  this  assurance  that 
there  is  a  special  providence  watching  over  us  and  that  par- 
ticular events  are  brought  about  by  God  for  the  special 


PART  FIRST — GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


49 


benefit  of  individual  men.  In  all  this  providence,  as  a  rule, 
God  makes  use  of  ordinary  laws  of  nature  to  accomplish  his 
purpose. 

3.  Miracles. 

When  something  occurs  which  cannot  be  explained  on  the 
ground  of  natural  laws,  we  call  it  a  miracle.  The  Holy 
Scriptures  record  many  miracles  of  healing,  of  deliverance 
and  special  providence,  as  well  as  miraculous  manifestations 
of  divine  justice  and  power.  It  should  be  noted,  however, 
that  where  the  "Authorized  Version"  reads  "miracles" 
(wonderful  things),  the  original  has  either  "signs"  or 
"powers."  That  wonderful  things  and  events  happen  and 
have  happened,  no  one  can  deny,  but  there  are  many  who 
do  not  believe  in  any  miracle,  in  the  sense  of  something  that 
is  not  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  nature,  ever  occuring 
either  in  our  day  or  in  Bible  times.  They  hold  to  the  abso- 
lute uniformity  of  natural  law.  But  miracles  can  be  ac- 
counted for  in  one  of  three  ways:  a.  a  suspension  of  the 
regular  law,  b.  an  extraordinary  application  of  the  ordinary 
law,  c.  the  working  of  a  law,  yet  undiscovered  by  man.  It 
may  be  said,  that  we  are  unable  to  determine  what  is  a 
miracle  and  what  not,  because  we  have  not  discovered  all 
the  laws,  and  because  the  occurence  of  what  is  termed  a 
miracle  rests  largely  on  uncertain  human  testimony. 

The  possibility,  however,  of  miracles  in  the  sense  of 
supernatural  acts  cannot  be  denied: 

a.  We  observe  that  even  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events 
natural  laws  are  frequently  superseded  or  counteracted  by 
higher  laws  or  by  human  will  producing  results  opposite 
to  what  nature  would  accomplish. 

b.  Belief  in  a  personal  God  implies  the  assurance,  that  the 
author  of  the  laws  of  nature  cannot  be  fettered  by  those 
laws  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  him  to 

4 


50 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


use  special  measures  for  the  accomplishment  of  special  pur- 
poses. 

c.  Miracles,  therefore,  have  their  place  as  accompani- 
ments and  attestations  of  a  special  divine  revelation.  Thus 
we  find  in  the  Bible,  that  epochs  of  signal  miracles  were 
generally  coincident  with  epochs  of  new  and  needful  revela- 
tion. 

And  the  time  of  miracles  has  not  yet  passed.  They  are 
constantly  happening.  There  are  miracles  of  answered 
prayer,  miracles  of  help  and  deliverance,  miracles  of  grace, 
"miracles  of  missions."  Two  extremes  must  be  guarded 
against.  The  one  is  an  unhealthy,  superstitious  craving  for 
miracles;  the  other  is  the  desire  to  explain  away  every 
miracle,  in  the  Bible  or  elsewhere,  by  tracing  it  to  natural 
causes.  To  the  Christian  believer,  miracles  are  a  constant 
evidence  of  God's  personal  government  of  the  world. 

4.   The  Divine  Decrees. 

The  divine  government  of  the  world  includes  the  fore- 
knowledge and  foreordaining  of  future  events.  The  limita- 
tions of  time  do  not  apply  to  Him  who  inhabits  eternity. 
The  events  of  time  are  but  the  gradual  unfolding  of  the 
eternal  purpose  of  God  (Ephes.  1:11,  Rom.  9:17).  This 
doctrine,  so  far  as  it  also  includes  the  will  and  act  of  rational 
creatures  in  the  divine  plan,  presents  some  difficulty.  It 
seems  incompatible  with  the  free  agency  of  man,  which  is 
the  distinguishing  mark  between  him  and  the  brute  crea- 
tion, and  it  seems  to  destroy  all  motive  to  self-exertion,  if 
whatever  is  done  was  predetermined.  This  twofold  diffi- 
culty can  be  met;  the  first,  by  saying  that  an  event  or  act 
may  be  foreordained  and  yet  free,  if  the  divine  decree  in- 
cludes the  free  will  of  the  creatures  as  a  part  of  the  decree; 
the  second,  similarly,  by  holding  that  the  means  of  accom- 
plishing something,  as  well  as  the  end,  are  foreordained. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  this  combination  of 
necessity  and  freedom  is  a  mystery  which  our  finite  under- 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


51 


standing  cannot  fully  comprehend.  Both  Scripture  and 
practical  experience  teach,  that  man's  free  will  is  limited 
by  many  things  beyond  his  control,  but  they  also  assure  us 
that  there  is  room  left,  within  the  divine  decree,  for  man's 
choosing  either  the  good  or  the  evil  and  that  the  eternal 
divine  purpose  is  founded  upon  infinite  wisdom  and  love. 

Chapter  XI.    The  Angels. 
1.  Existence  of  Angels. 

According  to  Scripture,  all  creation  is  divided  into  two 
classes,  viz.,  a  visible  and  an  invisible  creation, — material 
and  spiritual  existences  (Col.  1:16,  II  Cor.  4:18).  To  the 
latter  belong  what  are  called  angels  (messengers)  or 
spirits,  both  good  and  evil.  The  existence  of  such  beings 
might  be  assumed  on  the  ground  of  a  gradation  of  created 
beings.  As  in  the  material  world  there  is  a  gradual  ascent 
from  the  stone  to  man,  so  in  the  invisible  sphere  there  may 
be  creatures  of  higher  than  human  intelligence.  This  possi- 
bility is  declared  a  certainty  by  the  testimony  of  Holy  Writ. 

Because  of  the  absences  of  present  day  manifestations, 
many  doubt  the  existence  of  angels  and  declare  this  belief 
a  remnant  of  polytheism  or  simply  a  personification  of 
spiritual  forces.  The  latter  view  has  some  support  in  the 
fact  that  at  least  the  Cherubim  and  Seraphim  in  the  Old 
Testament  writings  and  the  "living  creatures"  of  the  book 
of  Revelation  are,  evidently,  symbolical  appearances  rather 
than  personal  beings.  Again  in  Psalm  104:4;  "Who  maketh 
winds  his  angels  and  a  flaming  fire  his  ministers"  and  in 
II  Kings  19  :35,  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  out  and  smote 
in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians  an  hundred  fourscore  and  five 
thousand,"  simple  powers  of  nature  seem  to  be  designated  as 
angels.  (Compare  John  5:4.)  But  whatever  degree  of 
individuality  or  personality  there  may  be  in  different  classes 
of  angels,  Scripture  clearly  teaches  the  actual  existence  of 
spiritual  beings,  besides  humanity.    We  cannot  set  aside  the 


r.2 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


testimony  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles  who  have  endorsed  the 
belief  in  angels  in  the  most  definite  manner.  See  Matth. 
22  :30,  Acts  7  :53,  Heb.  1 :14.  In  truth,  it  is  the  most  natural 
thing  to  believe  in  a  spiritual  world  analogous  to  the  world 
of  man  and  its  counterpart.  If  this  material  world  is  every- 
where teeming  with  forms  of  life,  in  earth  and  water  and 
air,  it  would  be  strange  not  to  find  the  invisible  realms  in- 
habited by  a  like  gradation  of  spiritual  powers  and  person- 
alities. 

2.  Nature  of  Angels. 
The  Scripture  statements  with  regard  to  the  nature  of 
angels  can  be  summed  up  under  the  following  heads : 

a.  They  are  spirits  (Heb.  1:14),  not  limited  by  the  laws 
of  material  existence  nor  by  those  of  sexual  relation  (Matth. 
22:30).  Having  no  material  body,  they  are  not  subject  to 
physical  death  (Luke  20:36).  But  they  can  materialize,  so 
as  to  become  visible  and  tangible  and  to  be  able  to  eat  and 
drink  (Gen.  18:8). 

b.  They  have  a  superhuman  intelligence  and  power,  yet 
are  subject  to  the  limitations  natural  to  all  creatures.  They 
are  not  omnipresent  and  do  not  know  the  future;  they  are 
deficient,  when  compared  with  the  perfections  of  God  (II 
Pet.  2  :11,  Mark  13  :32,  Job  4:18). 

c.  They  are  of  great  number.  They  are  called  a  host  in 
the  Old  Testament  and  an  innumerable  company  in  the  New 
Testament  (Gen.  32:2,  Heb.  12:22). 

d.  They  differ  in  rank  and  office,  possibly  also  in  at- 
tributes and  spheres  of  activity.  We  read  in  Zech.  1 :11  of 
an  angel  of  the  Lord  to  whom  others  bring  their  report ;  in 
Dan.  10 :13  of  "Michael,  one  of  the  chief  princes,"  in 
I  Thess.  4:16.  of  the  archangel.  Paul  in  Eph.  1:21  and 
Col.  1 :16  enumerates  four  classes  of  angels,  viz.,  thrones, 
dominions,  principalities  and  powers. 

e.  Like  all  of  God's  world,  they  have  been  created  good 
(Gen.  1:31).    But  so  far,  as  they  are  self-conscious  and 


PART  FIR8T  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


53 


personal  beings,  they  seem  to  have  had  the  free  choice  of 
self-determination,  like  man  in  Paradise,  and  some  fell  into 
sin  (II  Pet.  2:4).  Those  who  remained  steadfast,  are  now 
holy  angels,  who  cannot  commit  sin.  They  have  an  absolute 
desire  to  do  the  will  of  God  and  they  enjoy  perfect  bliss 
(I  Tim.  5:21). 

3.  Relation  to  Man. 

We  are  nowhere  in  Scripture  told  when  or  how  angels 
and  spirits  were  created.  It  would  appear,  that  they  must 
have  come  into  existence  before  man,  if  a  fallen  angel 
tempted  Adam  and  Eve  to  sin.  Cherubim  and  a  flaming 
sword  were  appointed  to  keep  out  the  sinners  from  Para- 
dise. 

In  some  respects,  the  angels  are  represented  as  far 
superior  to  men.  They  are  stronger  and  wiser,  they  are 
free  from  guilt  and  perfectly  happy,  they  have  attained  to 
tie  perfection  to  which  men  will  attain  only  through  the 
resurrection.  In  other  respects  again,  Adam's  race  appears 
to  surpass  the  angels.  The  latter  may  not  possess  the  same 
degree  of  individuality  which  man  has.  In  the  angelic 
manifestations,  as  recorded  in  the  Bible,  the  outline  of 
personality  and  name  is  generally  veiled  by  their  official 
employment.  (Gabriel — man  of  God,  Michael — who  is  like 
God?)  The  writer  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (2:16) 
declares  it  man's  privilege,  that  the  Son  of  God  "doth  not 
take  hold  of  angels,  but  he  taketh  hold  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham."  Paul  writes  in  I  Corinthians,  that  the  saints 
shall  at  last  "judge  angels,"  and  Peter  (I  Pet.  1:12),  that 
angels  desire  to  look  into  the  mystery  of  redemption,  which 
has  been  made  known  to  man. 

4.  General  Work. 
The  work  of  angels  is  twofold. 

a.  They  stand  in  the  presence  of  God  and  worship  him. 
Like  the  servants  of  an  earthly  monarch  surround  their 


54 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


sovereign,  so  the  heavenly  host  the  throne  of  God.  In 
rendering  this  service,  particular  mention  is  made  of  the 
Cherubim  and  Seraphim.  The  former,  as  seen  by  the 
prophet  Ezechiel  under  the  figure  of  a  combination  of  lion, 
eagle,  ox  and  man,  to  represent  the  leading  divisions  of 
natural  powers,  appear  themselves  to  be  the  living  throne  of 
God.  The  latter  (Seraphim),  as  described  in  the  vision  of 
Isaiah  (chp.  6:1-13),  incessantly  unite  on  magnifying  the 
name  of  God  with  their:  "Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of 
hosts." 

b.  They  execute  the  divine  will  in  the  government  of  the 
world.  Some  epochs  of  the  history  of  Israel  seem  to  have 
had  frequent  manifestations  of  angels,  while  others  had  few 
or  none.  The  patriarchal  age  abounds  in  them,  the  time  of 
Moses  is  devoid  iof  them;  the  book  of  Judges  records 
numerous  appearances,  while  the  period  of  the  monarchy 
hardly  mentions  them  at  all.  Was  the  angelic  agency 
visibly  employed  for  divine  revelation  mainly,  when  neither 
prophet  nor  the  written  word  were  available?  Angels  were 
used  to  execute  God's  judgment,  as  well  as  to  establish  his 
kingdom  on  earth.  An  angel  slew  the  first  born  of  Egypt 
(Ex.  12)  and  an  angel  smote  the  army  of  Sennacherib 
(II  Chron.  22).  The  law  on  Mt.  Sinai  was  "ordained 
through  angels."  The  children  of  Israel  enjoyed  the  special 
protection  of  the  "angel  of  Jehovah"  and  the  angel  of  his 
presence  saved  them  (Isai.  63:9).  Angels  announced  the 
birth  of  Christ  the  Saviour;  they  attended  him  in  all  his 
earthly  life  and  ministry;  they  were  seen  and  heard  at  his 
resurrection  and  ascension. 

5.  Present  Employment. 

But  not  only  in  the  past  have  they  been  employed  in  the 
service  of  God,  on  earth.  Scripture  teaches,  that  they  still 
continue  to  minister  to  Christ's  people  (Heb.  1:14).  They 
rejoice  over  one  sinner  who  repenteth  (Luke  15:10).  They 
belp  to  bring  men  into  touch  with  the  Gospel  of  salvation, 


PAST  FIEST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


55 


though  they  do  not  take  part  in  preaching  the  Gospel  (Acts 
10:3).  They  watch  over  God's  children  (Psalm  91:11), 
assist  and  protect  individual  believers  (Dan.  6:22).  They 
wait  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine  plan  of  salvation 
(Eph.  3:10)  and  at  the  end  of  days,  when  Christ  shall 
return  in  glory,  they  shall  appear  with  him,  "to  gather 
together  his  elect  and  to  gather  out  of  his  kingdom  them 
that  do  iniquity"  (Matth.  13:41  and  24:31). 

6.  Guardian  Angels  and  Worship  of  Angels. 

The  belief  of  some,  that  individual  men  and  nations  have 
their  special  guardian  angels  finds  little  support  in  Scrip- 
ture. The  passages  in  Dan.  10  :12,  13,  cited  for  the  latter, 
and  Acts  12  :15,  for  the  former  belief,  are  scarcely  to  the 
point.  As  regards  children,  Christ's  word:  "Their  angels 
do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven" 
(Matth.  18:10),  indeed,  assures  us  that  those  who  are  con- 
sidered little  among  men  are,  nevertheless,  under  the  con- 
stant supervision  of  angels  who  give  an  account  of  them  to 
the  most  high  God.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  a 
special  angel  is  assigned  to  each  child  or  even  that  a  par- 
ticular class  of  angels  takes  care  of  the  children. 

The  Koman  Catholic  Church  teaches  that  angels  should 
be  worshipped,  not  indeed  with  the  worship  due  to  God,  but 
"with  human  veneration  and  civil  homage."  The  Bible 
furnishes  no  instance  of  angels  accepting  such  worship, 
except  the  "prince  of  the  host  of  Jehovah"  who  appeared 
to  Joshua  (Josh.  5:14).  Testimony  to  the  contrary  is  given 
in  Rev.  19  :10  and  Col.  2  :18. 

7.  Value  of  the  Doctrine  of  Angels. 
But  little  attention  is  paid  in  our  time  to  the  doctrine  of 
Angels.  Neither  the  pulpit  nor  private  devotion  seem  to 
find  in  it  much  that  is  of  practical  use  to  the  Christian. 
However,  the  value  of  what  we  know  about  the  angels  and 
its  claim  on  our  abiding  interest  will  appear  from  the  fol- 
lowing considerations : 


56 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


a.  The  angels  belong  to  the  same  heavenly  kingdom  which 
we  are  called  to  inherit.  It  enlarges  our  idea  of  the  great- 
ness of  the  divine  power  and  grace,  that  there  is  an  in- 
numerable host  of  spirits,  to  serve  God  in  company  with  us. 

b.  We  are  thankful  for  the  honor  bestowed  upon  us,  by 
their  being  appointed  to  minister  to  our  wants;  and  en- 
couraged by  their  interest  in  our  temporal  and  spiritual 
welfare. 

c.  It  enlarges  our  conception  of  the  dignity  of  man  and 
incites  us  to  strive  more  earnestly  against  the  temptations 
of  sin,  to  know  that  holy  angels  mark  our  failings  and  our 
victories,  in  the  conflicts  of  a  Christian  life. 

d.  If  angels  rejoice  over  every  sinner  that  repents,  be- 
lievers should  rejoice  over  the  sinless  glory  of  the  holy 
angels  and  join  with  the  angelic  host  in  the  praise  of  a 
common  Lord :  "Bless  ye  the  Lord,  all  his  hosts,  that  do  his 
pleasure;  bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul"  (Ps.  103). 

Chapter  XII.  Origin  and  Nature  of  Man. 
1.  Origin. 

The  question  of  the  origin  of  man  does  not  lie  altogether 
outside  of  the  domain  of  Christian  doctrine.  For  according 
to  the  Bible,  man  originated  by  a  special  act  of  the  creator, 
who  formed  his  body  out  of  the  dust  and  breathed  his  spirit 
into  him  (Gen.  2:7).  Scripture  thus  contradicts  the  theory, 
that  man  is  a  spontaneous  product  of  natural  forces,  grown 
out  of  the  soil,  as  taught  by  the  ancient  Stoics  and  by  many 
modern  naturalists.  According  to  their  theory  the  earth 
originally  contained  nothing  but  living  germs,  from  which, 
in  successive  stages  of  development,  by  the  laws  of  varia- 
tion, natural  selection  and  struggle  for  life,  all  the  varieties 
of  present  existence  have  evolved,  the  spiritual  as  well  as 
the  material.  The  race  of  man,  thus,  in  a  slow  but  direct 
line  of  ascent,  has  sprung  from  the  same  source  as  stone,  as 
well  as  plant  and  animal  life.    In  so  far  as  this  theory  deals 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


57 


only  with  the  physical  origin  of  the  human  species  and  does 
not  deny  the  Creator,  it  has  no  direct  bearing  upon  religion. 
Man's  physical  system  may  be  derived  by  natural  descent 
from  the  lower  animals.  His  being  formed  of  the  dust  of 
the  ground  does  not  determine  whether  the  creation  of  the 
body  was  mediate  or  immediate.  But  the  inbreathing  of  the 
spirit  and  the  making  of  man  "in  the  image  of  God"  calls 
for  a  special  creative  act. 

Aside  of  the  religious  authority  of  the  Biblical  account  of 
man's  origin,  the  theory  of  an  unbroken  spontaneous  evolu- 
tion meets  with  serious  objections  on  scientific  and  historical 
grounds.  While  there  is  an  endless  mingling  of  varieties, 
no  instance  has  yet  been  adduced  of  the  transformation  of 
one  animal  species  into  another  or  of  the  body  of  any  brute 
ever  having  developed  into  that  of  man.  As  far  as  natural 
science  can  look  back,  the  same  divisions  seem  to  have 
existed.  It  is  also  an  established  law,  that  the  species  of 
higher  organism,  when  mingled,  produce  no  fertile  off- 
spring. Every  effort  at  finding  the  missing  link  between 
the  ape  and  man,  so  far,  has  failed.  During  thousands  of 
years,  since  the  ape  has  been  known,  he  has  not  made  the 
slightest  progress  towards  becoming  man.  The  gorilla  skull 
has  a  capacity  of  25 — 341/2  inches,  while  the  lowest  man  has 
a  skull  capacity  of  62 — 114  inches,  and  the  skull  of  primeval 
man,  the  contemporary  of  the  mammoth,  is  as  large  as  that 
of  the  average  man  of  to-day.  Moreover,  man's  self-con- 
sciousness, power  of  self-determination,  faculty  of  speech 
and  his  moral  sense  mark  him  as  a  being  radically  different 
from  the  irrational  creature.  Hence  we  conclude  that  the 
Bible  account  of  the  origin  of  man,  which  indicates  a  pause 
between  the  creation  of  the  animals  and  of  man,  and  a  special 
creative  act  in  "Let  us  make  man,"  is  more  plausible,  than 
a  spontaneous  evolution  from  some  lower  animal  form. 

2.  Antiquity. 

A  question  of  minor  importance,  in  connection  with  the 


58 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


origin  of  man,  is  that  of  his  antiquity.  According  to 
Biblical  chronoloogy,  as  commonly  received,  the  advent  of 
man  on  this  earth  would  not  date  back  much  over  6000 
years,  whereas  scientists  are  inclined  to  make  it  30,000 
years  or  more.  Here  mutual  concessions  seem  possible. 
Some  claim  that  it  must  have  required  countless  ages  to 
evolve  the  different  races  of  primeval  man.  But  variations 
among  domestic  animals,  like  dogs,  much  more  striking  than 
those  of  the  human  races,  have  arisen  within  recent  historic 
times.  Again,  the  monumental  records  of  Babylon  and 
Egypt  are  supposed  to  go  back  far  beyond  the  time  when 
the  Mosaic  record  puts  the  flood.  But  even  the  few  early 
dates  that  are  said  to  be  fixed,  like  that  of  the  Assyrian 
King  Sargon  I,  at  B.  C.  3800,  are  still  subject  to  doubt.  The 
strongest  evidence  for  an  earlier  existence  of  man  on  the 
earth  is,  doubtless,  furnished  by  the  finding  of  human  re- 
mains in  the  deposits  of  the  glacial  period..  Primeval  man, 
using  nothing  but  stone  implements,  appears  to  have  wit- 
nessed the  great  changes  of  the  earth's  condition  connected 
with  the  ice-age.  But  recent  calculations  are  to  the  effect 
that  the  post-glacial  time  does  not  exceed  8000  years. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  an  article  of  faith  that  Adam 
was  created  B.  C.  4000.  However  strictly  we  may  hold  to 
the  principle  of  inspiration,  the  Bible  is  not  primarily  in- 
tended to  furnish  a  chronology  of  history.  Besides,  different 
readings  in  the  genealogical  table  of  Gen.  11,  varying  in 
the  Septuagint  from  the  present  Hebrew  text,  and  some  un- 
certainty as  to  the  exact  meaning  of  the  genealogy,  leave 
room  for  a  difference  of  opinion  on  the  early  Bible  chro- 
nology. However,  both  the  historical  and  geological 
records  confirm  the  belief  that  the  advent  of  man  upon  the 
earth  is  comparatively  recent. 

3.  Nature  of  Man. 
Man  is  both  a  sensuous  and  a  spiritual  being,  the  crown 
of  the  earthly  creation  and  the  connecting  link  between  the 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


59 


material  and  the  spiritual  world.  He  is  appointed  to  have 
dominion  over  the  irrational  creature,  both  the  organic  and 
the  inorganic.  Nature  being  without  self-consciousness  and 
free  agency,  finds  in  man  its  interpreter.  He  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  earthly  creation,  the  microcosm,  a  little 
world  in  himself.  Light  and  sound,  beauty  and  purpose 
are  understood  only  by  him,  who  is  God's  vice-regent  in  the 
government  of  the  earth  (Gen.  1:26,  28). 

The  story  of  the  creation  speaks  of  man's  being  formed 
of  the  dust  of  the  ground  and  of  God's  breathing  the  breath 
of  life  into  him.  This  points  to  man's  consisting  of  two 
elements,  a  material  and  a  spiritual  one,  matter  and  mind. 
Some  hold  to  a  trichotomy  (three  parts)  of  substances  in 
the  composition  of  man,  viz.,  body,  soul  and  spirit.  But  it 
seems  impossible  to  separate  between  soul  and  spirit  as 
different  elements  or  to  imagine  a  third  substance  besides 
mind  and  matter.  In  Scripture,  generally,  soul  and  spirit 
are  used  promiscuously;  what  is  predicated  of  the  one,  is 
predicated  of  the  other.  Where  "spirit  and  soul  and  body" 
are  mentioned  side  by  side,  as  in  I  Thess.  5  :23,  it  is  evidently 
a  paraphrase  for  the  whole  man.  Spirit  and  soul  designate 
the  immaterial  principle  from  different  points  of  view. 
When  viewed  as  conscious,  intellectual  life,  it  is  soul 
(psyche)  ;  when  viewed  as  moral  and  religious  life,  it  is 
spirit  (pneuma).  "The  spirit  is  man's  nature  looking  God- 
ward,  the  soul  is  man's  nature  looking  earthward"  (I  Cor. 
15:44).  Thus  it  may  be  said  that  man  has  a  threefold  re- 
lation or  a  threefold  sphere  of  activity,  viz.,  a.  a  material 
sphere,  with  which  his  senses  bring  him  into  contact;  b.  a 
psychical  sphere,  through  his  relation  to  the  intellectual 
world  around  him;  c.  a  spiritual  sphere,  related  to  matters 
of  religious  interest  and  concern. 

4.  Unity  of  the  Race. 

According  to  the  Bible,  all  men  have  one  common  origin 
and  are  descended  from  one  pair  (Act9l7  :26,ICor.  15  :22,49). 


60 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Opposite  views  are,  either,  that  different  species  of 
the  human  race  arose  in  the  different  continents,  or  that  a 
number  of  pairs,  all  belonging  to  the  same  species,  came 
into  existence.  The  Scripture  statement  is  confirmed  by 
the  following  arguments : 

a.  Historical.  So  far  as  the  history  of  nations  and  tribes 
in  both  hemispheres  can  be  traced,  it  points  to  a  common 
ancestry,  somewhere  in  Southwestern  Asia. 

b.  Physiological.  There  is  an  essential  identity  of  the 
human  races  in  their  anatomical  structure,  respiration 
and  digestion;  and  there  is,  also,  permanence  of  propaga- 
tion in  the  mingling  of  these  races. 

c.  Psychological.  All  men  have  essentially  the  same 
mental  and  moral  characteristics,  the  same  faculties  of 
memory  and  reason,  the  same  sentiments  of  pleasure  and 
pain,  the  same  convictions  of  right  and  wrong. 

d.  Linguistic.  Comparative  philology  points  to  a  com- 
mon origin  of  most  of  the  large  branches  of  human 
language  or  at  least  to  certain  fundamental  principles  in 
the  formation  of  language,  which  are  common  to  all. 

Certainly,  there  are  no  races  of  men  so  different  from  the 
rest,  that  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  having  had  the  same 
origin.  The  descent  of  all  mankind  from  one  couple  is  of 
importance  mainly  for  the  recognition  of  the  equality  of 
men,  the  common  brotherhood  of  all,  and  especially  for  the 
doctrine  of  sin  and  salvation.  All  men  are  involved  in  the 
consequences  of  Adam's  fall,  and  all  have  a  share  in  Christ, 
the  Saviour,  because  they  are  members  of  the  same  human 
family  (Rom.  5:15). 

5.  Origin  of  the  Individual  Soul. 
Respecting  the  manner  in  which  the  individual  human 
soul  originates,  Scripture  is  almost  entirely  silent.  Never- 
theless this  question  is  of  some  importance  as  bearing  upon 
our  connection  with  Adam  and  has  frequently  been  dis- 
cussed.   There  are  three  main  theories : 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


61 


a.  Pre'existence  of  the  Soul.  The  philosopher  Plato 
taught  that  the  universe  is  the  embodiment  of  eternal  ideas 
clothed  in  matter.  Applying  this  theory  to  the  human 
race,  the  churchfather  Origen  held  that  all  the  souls  of 
men  have  had  a  personal  existence  in  a  previous  state  and, 
having  sinned  in  that  state,  are  sent  into  the  material  body 
to  be  purified  from  sin.  This  theory  directly  contradicts 
the  Scriptural  account  of  the  creation  and  the  fall  of 
man. 

b.  Creation  of  the  Soul.  This  view,  which  was  first  pro- 
pounded by  Jerome  and  Pelagius,  assumes  that  the  soul  of 
every  man  is  separately  created,  at  the  time  of  conception 
or  at  birth.  It  is  based  upon  the  idea  that  the  soul  being 
indivisible  cannot  be  transmitted  from  parents  to  children 
and  that  the  talents  and  the  disposition  of  many  children 
differ  from  those  possessed  by  their  parents.  The  objection 
to  this  theory  is,  that  it  ignores  the  evident  reproduction  of 
mental  and  moral  traits  in  the  same  family  and  that  it 
makes  God  the  author  of  evil,  in  that  he  either  creates  a 
sinful  soul  or  places  a  pure  soul  in  a  sin-stained  body. 

c.  Propagation  of  the  Soul  or  Traducian  Theory,  first 
presented  by  Tertullian  and  urged  by  Augustine  in  the 
controversy  against  Pelagius.  This  theory  holds,  that  the 
souls  of  children  as  well  as  their  bodies  are  propagated  by 
natural  generation,  either  so  that  the  child-soul  exists  in  the 
parent  as  an  individual  being,  like  the  seed  of  plants  or  else 
as  a  latent  force,  comparable  to  a  flame,  which  is  kindled  by 
another  flame.  The  principal  argument  in  support  of  this 
view  is  the  undeniable  fact,  that  individual  and  national 
traits  of  endowment  and  character  are  constantly  trans- 
mitted. The  child  resembles  one  or  both  parents  in  their 
good  and  bad  qualities  and  tendencies,  according  to  the 
general  law  that  like  begets  like.  The  Traducian  theory, 
however,  must  admit  divine  overruling  and  guidance  in 
every  part  of  the  development  of  the  human  race. 


62 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Chapter  XIII.    The  State  of  Mankind  in  Paradise. 
1.  The  Image  of  God. 

With,  regard  to  the  original  state  of  mankind,  there  are 
two  entirely  opposite  views.  The  one  is  the  view  of  the 
naturalist,  who  holds  that  in  the  gradual  ascent  of  man 
from  the  state  of  the  brute,  he  was  at  first  an  utter  savage, 
perhaps  a  cannibal,  without  articulate  speech,  without 
morality  and  without  religion ;  the  other  is  the  view  pre- 
sented in  the  Biblical  account  of  the  creation,  that  man  be- 
gan his  career  endowed  with  intelligence  and  happiness, 
but  that  he  lost  his  original  high  state  by  apostacy  from 
God. 

We  read  that  God  created  man  in  "his  image."  In  what 
did  this  image  of  God  consist?  It  is  evident  that  it  must 
not  be  sought  primarily  in  the  body,  as  a  material  quality, 
but  in  that  excellence  of  the  human  nature  which  dis- 
tinguished man  from  the  other  creatures,  his  natural  and 
moral  ability  and  endowment.  As  God  is  the  absolute 
Spirit,  so  man  has  a  spiritual  element,  in  virtue  of  which 
he  is  able  to  understand,  to  feel  and  to  will;  to  have  self- 
consciousness  and  self-determination.  Again,  as  God  is 
Love, — the  perfection  of  moral  excellence, — so  man  is  able 
to  love  and  to  follow  moral  impulses.  These  two  character- 
istics, then,  which  constitute  man  a  personality,  mark  the 
divine  image  in  man.  The  body  reflects  that  image  of  God 
in  so  far,  that  it  is  the  organ  of  the  Spirit  and  as  such 
destined  to  share  in  the  glory  of  the  perfected  human 
personality. 

Sometimes  the  "image  of  God"  has  been  defined  as  ex- 
pressing the  "original  righteousness  and  holiness,"  which 
the  first  human  pair  possessed,  but  which  was  lost  in  the 
fall.  Theie  are  two  objections  to  this  view:  a.  While  man 
was  created  good,  this  natural  goodness,  in  order  to  become 
holiness,  first  had  to  be  tested,  if  holiness  is  rightly  defined 
as  conscious  possession  of  goodness,    b.  Though  the  image 


PART  FIRST  GOD  THE  CREATOR. 


63 


of  God  in  man  was,  doubtless,  marred  by  the  fall,  it  was 
not  altogether  lost.  For  Scripture  testifies,  that  sinful  man 
still  bears  this  image  at  least  in  a  limited  sense  (Gen.  9:6, 
James  3:9,  I  Cor.  11:7).  In  the  full  sense  of  the  word, 
Christ  alone  was  "the  image  of  the  invisible  God"  (Col. 
1 :15),  "the  effulgence  of  his  glory  and  the  very  image  of  his 
substance"  (Heb.  1:13).  Therefore  ,also,  redeemed  man  is 
"to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  the  Son,  that  he  might  be 
the  firstborn  among  many  brethren"  (Kom.  8:29). 

2.   Intellectual  Condition. 

Many  races  of  men  have  a  tradition  of  a  "golden  age"  at 
the  beginning  of  human  development.  The  Mosaic  record 
confirms  the  belief,  that  the  primitive  state  of  man  was  a 
high  and  happy  one.  It  tells  us,  that  Adam  (man)  was 
from  the  first  endowed  not  only  with  self-consciousness,  but 
also  with  a  clear  understanding  of  his  surroundings.  He 
was  given  dominion  over  the  lower  creation,  and  having 
quickly  gained  an  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  animals 
around  him,  he  was  able  to  give  them  names  and  to  rule 
them.  Thus  he  developed  the  faculty  of  speech.  'No  doubt, 
his  knowledge  and  his  language  were  in  every  respect  limited. 
The  primitive  language  could  have  but  few  words  and  forms, 
but  it  possessed  the  rudiments  of  articulate  speech.  Primi- 
tive man  had  no  house,  clothes,  money  or  tools  and  no 
inventions  were  as  yet  made,  but  he  had  the  ability  to  make 
them.  He  may  have  had  to  go  in  regular  succession,  from 
the  use  of  stone  implements,  to  the  discovery  of  fire  and 
cooking,  and  to  the  working  of  bronze  and  iron.  But  his 
original  state  was  not  one  of  brutish  barbarism. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  ancient  nations  generally  traced 
their  civilization  as  having  been  brought  from  the  east. 
There  is  also  a  surprising  degree  of  art  and  intellectual 
culture  in  the  oldest  known  monuments  of  Egypt  and 
Babylon,  and  the  fact  that  nations,  like  the  Eskimoes  and 
Kaffirs,  have  a  language,  wonderfully  rich  in  grammatical 


64 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


forms  and  fine  distinctions,  proves  that  the  intellectual  en- 
dowment surpassed  the  actual  attainments  of  the  different 
races.  Some  nations,  clearly,  have  degenerated  from  a 
higher  civilization  into  rude  savagery. 

3.  Moral  Condition. 

Morally  man  was  created  good.  By  this  we  understand, 
that  his  natural  disposition  or  quality  was  pure  and  right, 
and  the  tendency  of  his  affection  and  will,  fundamentally 
good.  He  lived  in  communion  with  his  Creator  and  did 
what  was  right  in  childlike  innocence.  The  assertion  of 
naturalists,  that  the  religious  history  of  mankind  uni- 
versally has  progressed  from  fetichism  through  polytheism, 
to  monotheism,  is  unproven.  So  far  as  it  does  rest  on  facts, 
these  can  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground  of  religious  de- 
generacy after  the  fall.  But  man  had  not  as  yet  made  use 
of  his  free  will  and  he  had  no  knowledge  of  evil.  His 
morality  was  not  yet  a  personal  possession  because  it  had 
not  been  tested.  The  Eoman  Catholic  teaching,  that 
original  man  had  in  him  an  antagonism  between  the  body 
and  the  spirit,  which  needed  an  adjustment,  and  that  the 
remedy  was  furnished  in  a  supernatural  gift  of  special 
grace,  afterwards  lost  by  the  fall,  finds  no  confirmation  in 
Scripture. 

4.  Physical  Condition. 
Physically,  also,  man  must  have  had  a  good  start.  While 
the  brute  creation  is  downward  bent,  looking  at  the  ground 
from  which  it  originated,  man's  posture  was  erect ;  he 
looked  aloft,  as  well  as  beneath  and  around  him  and  his 
features  expressed  his  higher  attributes  and  aspirations. 
His  body,  as  originally  constituted,  must  have  been  vigorous, 
full  of  the  joy  of  health,  well  fitted  to  share  in  the  spirit's 
domain  over  nature.  There  was  no  conflict  between  body 
and  spirit,  the  sensuous  impulses  being  in  perfect  submission 
to  the  control  of  the  spirit.    Yet  the  physical  state  of  man 


PART  SECOND— SIN. 


65 


was  not  final.  The  body  was  material  and  therefore  perish- 
able. Death  was  an  existing  possibility,  but  it  did  not 
threaten  man  as  long  as  he  remained  near  the  divine  source 
of  life,  of  which  the  "tree  of  life"  was  the  emblem.  Perhaps 
the  material  body  was  to  be  raised  gradually  to  a  higher  state 
of  existence,  and  thus  changed  or  transfigured  into  the 
spiritual  body  of  the  resurrection,  of  which  Paul  writes 
in  I  Cor.  15:51,  53. 

5  Exercise  of  Man's  Powers. 
The  story  of  the  creation,  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  also 
records  what  provision  was  made  by  the  Creator  for  the 
exercise  of  man's  faculties  and  powers.  He  was  given  a 
home  in  a  pleasant,  garden-like  region  of  the  earth,  called 
Eden  (delight)  or  Paradise  (a  park).  His  work  was  to 
dress  and  keep  this  garden  by  cultivating  the  ground,  by 
planting  flowers  and  trees  and  raising  crops  of  grain ;  and 
this  exercise  of  the  body  would,  at  the  same  time,  be  to  him 
a  source  of  joy,  vigor  and  beauty.  His  intellectual  faculties 
were  to  be  developed  by  the  exercise  of  inventive  thought 
and  imagination  and  by  the  gradual  enlargement  of  the 
power  of  speech.  Exercise  for  his  moral  and  spiritual 
powers  was  furnished  by  daily  intercourse  with  God,  what- 
ever the  form  of  that  intercourse  may  have  been,  and  by 
the  test  of  his  willing  obedience  through  a  commandment. 
For  there  could  be  no  conscious  morality  and  no  true 
worship  of  God  without  a  personal  decision  in  the  exercise 
of  free  will. 

An  important  factor  in  this  human  development  was  the 
establishment  of  the  human  family.  The  formation  of 
woman  marks  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  our  race.  The 
sexual  polarity  of  husband  and  wife  found  a  higher  har- 
mony in  the  relation  of  father,  mother  and  child.  This 
human  family  was  destined,  by  the  law  of  propagation  and 
association,  to  grow  into  a  nation,  and  to  become  the  King- 
5 


66 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


dom  of  God  on  earth  which,  as  Christ  has  taught  us,  was 
being  "prepared  from  the  foundation  of  the  world"  (Matth. 
25:34).  The  law  and  prevailing  motive  of  this  Kingdom 
was  to  be  the  love  of  God  and  of  fellow  man.  The  physical 
impulse  of  love,  through  the  charm  of  bodily  attraction  and 
enjoyment  (what  the  Greeks  called  Eros),  was  to  lead  to 
the  higher,  mental  love  of  relatives,  friends  and  associates 
(Philia),  and  ripen  into  the  highest  form  of  spiritual  and 
divine  love  (Agape).  I  John  4:7. 


Ipart  Seconfc— Sin. 


Chapter  XIV.    Evil  Spirits. 

1.  Their  Existence. 
The  course  of  the  happy  development  of  the  human  race 
was  interrupted  by  the  appearance  of  sin  and  evil  in  the 
world,  and  this  evil,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  must  be 
traced  to  the  existence  of  an  evil  spirit,  prior  to  the  fall  of 
man. 

The  books  of  the  Old  Testament  make  but  a  few  refer- 
ences to  an  evil  power,  but  in  the  New  Tetsament  we  find 
frequent  mention  of  fallen  angels  or  demons,  and  especially 
of  one  called  Satan  (the  enemy)  or  Devil  (diabolos,  deceiver 
or  slanderer). 

The  existence  of  such  evil  spirits  is  doubted  or  rejected 
in  our  days  by  many,  on  the  following  grounds : 

a.  This  belief,  they  say,  is  a  creation  of  superstition  and  a 
remnant  of  barbarism.  The  more  ignorant  men  are,  the 
more  they  are  afraid  of  evil  spirits  and  this  fear  decreases 
in  proportion  to  their  enlightenment. 

b.  Almighty  God  could  not  permit  the  continued  existence 
of  creatures  who  have  become  apostate  and  who  constantly 
oppose  him.  And  the  evil  spirits  themselves  must  know  the 
power  of  God  and  could  not  continue  their  rebellion,  with- 
out realizing  the  folly  of  their  efforts. 

c.  The  belief  in  a  devil  degrades  man  by  representing  him 
as  a  slave  of  Satan;  and  it  is  morally  hurtful,  because  it 
transfers  the  blame  of  human  sin  to  the  being  Who  tempts 
man. 

In  reply  to  these  arguments  we  must  urge  the  following 
considerations : 

a.  There  must  be  some  real  foundation  for  this  general 


68 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


belief  in  the  existence  of  evil  spirits,  which  is  as  universal  as 
the  belief  in  God.  It  is  a  part  of  the  inner  consciousness  of 
the  most  enlightened  Christians  and  confirmed  by  their  re- 
ligious experience,  as  it  also  furnishes  the  most  reasonable 
explanation  of  the  fall  of  Adam. 

b.  If  almighty  God  has  permitted  the  wickedness  of  sin- 
ful man  to  continue  for  thousands  of  years  and  if  the 
human  intelligence  can  be  so  perverted  by  sin  as  to  continue 
in  disobedience  and  rebellion  against  God  to  the  present 
day,  why  should  that  be  impossible  with  evil  spirits  ? 

c.  Neither  Scripture  nor  conscience  allow  temptation  by 
the  devil  to  be  an  excuse  for  sin,  or  to  regard  Satan  as 
having  power  to  control  man  without  his  will.  We  are 
taught  that  it  is  man's  fault,  if  he  yields  to  the  devil 
(Matth.  15:19).  Experience  proves  that  belief  in  the  per- 
sonality of  the  devil  makes  sin  to  be  more  abhorred,  while 
giving  up  this  belief  is  apt  to  lead  to  laxity. 

d.  According  to  the  New  Testament,  it  is  certain  that 
Christ  and  the  apostles  taught  the  existence  of  Satan  and 
of  evil  spirits.  To  declare  this  teaching  an  accomodation 
to  popular  belief  or  a  simple  personification  of  evil  passions 
and  principles,  is  incompatible  with  the  plain  statements  of 
the  Gospels.  While  the  expression:  "he  has  a  demon"  may 
have  been  used  in  the  sense  of,  "he  is  insane,"  Christ's  own 
references  to  the  devil,  both  in  public  and  private  teaching 
are  so  explicit,  that  they  cannot  be  explained  away  as  figura- 
tive (Matth.  12:28,  Luke  10:18,  John  8:44).  This  fact, 
however,  does  not  exclude  the  possibility  of  impersonal 
powers  being  used  by  a  personal  agent,  even  as  men  use 
guns  and  dynamite  to  kill. 

2.  The  Origin  of  Evil. 
But,  if  there  are  evil  spirits,  how  did  the  evil  in  them 
originate?   It  is  an  axiom  of  Christian  belief  that  the  origin 
of  evil  cannot  lie  in  God.    He  never  tempts  to  evil,  though 
he  brings  to  light  the  hidden  sin  within  (James  1:13).  All 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


69 


that  we  can  say  is,  that  the  abstract  possibility  of  evil  is 
implied  in  the  gift  of  a  free  will  to  the  creature,  because 
such  freedom  of  thought  or  action  necessarily  involves  a 
self-limitation  of  the  divine  will.  Freedom  of  choice  on  the 
part  of  the  creature,  therefore,  implies  the  logical  alterna- 
tive of  either  doing  or  not  doing  the  will  of  God,  loving  God, 
or  not  loving  him,  being  with  God  or  without  him.  If  any 
creature,  in  the  exercise  of  this  prerogative  of  rational  be- 
ings, instead  of  yielding  a  loving  obedience  to  the  Creator, 
chooses  to  live  for  himself,  such  determination  would  be 
identical  with  doing  evil.  How  the  abstract  possibility  ever 
became  an  actuality,  how  an  evil  volition  arose  in  spirits 
created  pure,  is  an  unsolved  mystery. 

Respecting  the  nature  of  this  sin  and  apostacy  of  the 
devil  and  his  angels,  we  would  infer  from  the  nature  of 
spiritual  sin  among  men,  that  it  was  pride,  the  desire  to  be 
like  God,  self-deification,  a  transgression  of  the  first  and 
greatest  commandment :  "I  am  the  Lord,  thy  God"  (Gen. 
3:5,  compare  I  Tim.  3:6).  If  the  spirit-world  is  not  bound 
together  by  the  tie  of  blood-relationship,  like  the  human  race, 
the  apostacy  of  one  angel  could  not  bring  on  the  apostacy  of 
others,  except  through  personal  counsel  and  example. 
Jewish  theology,  and  some  Church  fathers,  held  that  God 
had  entrusted  to  certain  angels  different  provinces  of  do- 
minion and  that  some,  becoming  discontented  with  their 
position,  formed  a  rebellious  league  with  each  other.  This 
theory  seeks  to  account  for  the  connection  of  Satan  and  the 
evil  spirits  with  our  earth  in  particular;  but  its  supposed 
scriptural  support  in  the  epistle  of  Jude,  v.  6,  is  very  slight. 
Some,  on  the  ground  of  II  Pet.  2 :4  and  5,  in  connection 
with  Gen.  6:1-4,  have  assumed,  that  a  second  apostacy  took 
place  in  the  spirit-world  after  the  fall  of  Adam  and  Eve, 
through  the  sin  of  sensuality.  Thus  in  the  spirit-world,  as 
among  men,  sin  would  manifest  itself  in  the  twofold  form  of 
pride  and  lust.    The  designation  of  "unclean  spirits,"  the 


70 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


fact  that  men  appear  to  be  tempted  by  the  devil  to  sins  of 
impurity,  as  well  as  of  pride,  and  the  occurence  of  de- 
moniacal possessions  would  lend  some  weight,  at  least,  to  the 
general  idea  of  a  twofold  type  of  diabolical  sin. 

3.  Nature  of  Evil  Spirits. 

The  evil  spirits  are  banded  together  in  a  community, 
called  the  Kingdom  of  Satan,  in  opposition  to  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  Satan  or  the  Devil  appears  to  be  superior  in  rank 
and  power  to  the  other  spirits  (Matth.  12  :26).  To  him  are 
applied  also  such  names  as  Belial  (worthless)  and  Beelzebul 
(Lord  of  the  dwelling)  or  Beelzebub  (Lord  of  flies)  (II  Cor. 
6:15,  Matth.  12:  24).  His  subjects  or  associates,  the  evil 
spirits,  are  frequently  called  demons,  a  term  which  in  Greek 
mythology  stood  for  ministering  spirits,  employed  in  the 
government  of  the  world.  The  Jews  who  held  that  the 
gentile  world  was  ruled  by  Satan,  under  the  name  of  Zeus, 
or  Baal,  or  Jupiter,  naturally  regarded  these  demons  as 
servants  or  emissaries  of  the  evil  one.  The  Apostle  Paul, 
in  Ephesians  6 :12,  distinguishes  "principalities,  powers, 
world  rulers  of  darkness  and  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness 
in  the  heavenly  places." 

If  the  origin  of  evil,  with  Satan  and  his  subjects,  lies 
within  themselves,  we  must  infer  that  sin  is  the  controlling 
motive  of  these  spirits,  their  very  nature.  Christ  called  the 
devil  a  "murderer  from  the  beginning — a  liar  and  the 
father  thereof"  (John  8:44)  and  the  Apostle  John  wrote: 
"the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning"  (I  John  3:8).  As 
will  and  intellect  are  closely  connected,  we  must  suppose 
that  the  apostacy  of  the  will  from  God  was  followed  by  a 
blinding  of  the  understanding  so  that  these  spirits  do  not 
see  the  folly  of  their  wickedness.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are 
taught  that  they  possess  great  energy  and  power,  which 
they  use  altogether  for  hindering  or  destroying  every  good 
work. 

As  to  their  personal  condition,  we  are  led  to  believe  that 


PART  SECOND — SIN. 


71 


it  must  be  one  of  great  unhappiness,  because  of  tbeir  being 
entirely  separated  from  God  wbo  is  tbe  source  of  all  true 
felicity.  But  on  tbese  points  we  bave  no  authoritative 
declaration  in  Holy  Scripture. 

4.   General  Activity. 

Satan  and  bis  angels  are  represented  as  thoroughly  active 
in  making  war  against  the  works  of  God.  Especially  does 
the  world  of  man  appear  to  be  their  field  of  operation.  Ac- 
cording to  Scripture,  it  was  Satan  who  caused  Adam  and 
Eve  to  fall  into  sin  (Rev.  12:9),  and  ever  since  the  fall,  he 
and  his  associates  have  endeavored  to  gain  control  and  to 
extend  their  dominion  over  this  sinful  world.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  Christ  called  Satan  the  prince  of  this  world 
(John  14:30)  not  because  he  is  the  rightful  owner,  but 
because  he  exercises  dominion  over  fallen  humanity. 
Wherever  sin  reigns,  there  Satan  and  the  evil  spirits  reign. 
They  strive  to  defeat  the  will  of  God  and  they  hinder  man's 
temporal  and  eternal  welfare. 

The  working  of  evil  spirits  is  represented  as  being  partly 
of  an  ordinary  and  partly  of  an  extraordinary  or  super- 
natural character.  Scripture  tells  us  that  this  special  and 
extraordinary  influence  is  exerted  upon  the  physical,  the 
mental  and  the  spiritual  sphere  of  man's  life. 

a.  Physical.  The  great  affliction  and  severe  illness  which 
tried  the  patience  and  faith  of  Job  is  traced  to  Satan's 
baving  received  special  permission  to  injure  him.  Paul's 
"thorn  in  the  flesh"  was  caused  by  a  messenger  of  Satan  to 
buffet  him  (II  Cor.  12:7). 

b.  Mental  (psychical).  There  are  many  instances  men- 
tioned in  tbe  Bible  of  a  supernatural  influence  upon  the  in- 
tellectual faculties  of  certain  men,  causing  a  complete  or  a 
partial  loss  of  reason  and  power  of  will;  as  in  the  case  of 
Saul,  when  he  raved;  of  the  false  prophets  and  sorcerers 
(Acts  16:16),  who  had  a  spirit  of  divination,  and  especially 


72 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


of  the  "possessed"  and  lunatics  who  were  healed  by  Christ. 

c.  Spiritual.  Sometimes  the  attack  is  made  directly  upon 
the  religious  and  moral  part  of  man,  by  Satan's  taking  pos- 
session of  the  heart  of  man,  as  in  the  case  of  Judas  and  of 
Ananias  (Acts  5  :3). 

The  ultimate  object  of  such  special  and  extraordinary  at- 
tacks upon  certain  men,  on  the  part  of  the  devil,  must  have 
been,  if  possible,  to  destroy  body,  soul  and  spirit.  The  occa- 
sion for  it  may  sometimes  have  been  the  commission  of  some 
particular  sin.  But  in  other  cases  it  appears  as  a  simple 
affliction,  a  disease,  which  needs  healing.  The  frequency  of 
men  suffering  under  this  affliction  at  the  time  of  the  earthly 
ministry  of  Christ  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground,  that 
when  the  Redeemer  of  men  came,  Satan  increased  'his 
efforts,  in  order  to  hinder  the  work  of  redemption.  He  was 
permitted  to  do  so,  because  this  special  manifestation  of  the 
evil  power  resulted  in  a  greater  manifestation  of  the  saving 
power  of  Christ. 

5.  Relation  to  Christians. 
If,  what  is  recorded  in  the  Bible  concerning  the  activity 
of  the  devil  and  of  evil  powers  in  the  past,  is  accepted  as 
true,  the  question  may  be  asked,  whether  that  activity  has 
not  come  to  an  end,  when  Christ,  our  Saviour,  delivered 
fallen  man  from  the  power  of  the  evil  one.  The  apostles 
teach  that  such  is  not  the  case,  but  that  the  devil  and  his 
associates  still  seek  to  hinder  men  from  entering  Christ's 
kingdom  or,  after  they  have  entered,  seek  to  make  them 
apostates.  In  this  endeavor  they  use  either  cunning,  "Satan 
fashioning  himself  into  an  angel  of  light"  (II  Cor.  11:14), 
or  else  violence,  "the  devil  walking  about  as  a  roaring  lion" 
(I  Pet.  5:8).  Paul  in  I  Thess.  2:18  writes  about  Satan 
hindering  his  coming  to  Thessalonica,  and  on  many  oc- 
casions, in  the  course  of  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church, 
since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  have  servants  of  Christ  been 
convinced,  that  the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of  the  spread 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


73 


of  Christ's  Kingdom  and  the  persecutions  which  have  come 
upon  believers,  though  directly  attributable  to  evil  men, 
must  be  traced  to  the  instigation  of  evil  spirits.  It  seems  to 
be  well  proven  that  demoniacal  possession,  such  as  is  re- 
corded in  the  Bible,  does  occur  occasionally  in  our  own  time, 
especially  in  connection  with  missions  among  the  heathen. 

Above  all,  the  evil  influence  of  Satan  still  manifests  itself 
in  certain  temptations  to  sin  to  which  believers  and  un- 
believers are  subject  in  our  days,  as  well  as  of  old ;  as  Paul 
writes  in  Eph.  6:11  and  12,  "Our  wrestling  is  not  against 
flesh  and  blood,  but  against  the  principalities ...  against  the 
spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness."  But  James  gives  the  ad- 
monition :  "Resist  the  devil  and  he  will  flee  from  you. 
Draw  nigh  to  God,  and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you"  (James 
4:7).  Watchfulness,  earnest  prayer  and  the  right  use  of 
the  Word  of  God  are  the  appointed  weapons  against  all  the 
assaults  of  evil  spirits. 

6.  Witchcraft  and  Sorcery. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  and  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  it  was  the  general  belief  that  wicked  men  could 
make  >a  compact  with  Satan  whereby,  for  a  season,  they 
were  endowed  with  supernatural  power,  upon  the  condition 
that,  after  death,  their  souls  be  given  over  to  perdition. 
Through  these  witches  and  sorcerers,  it  was  thought,  the 
devil  exercised  a  great  sway  both  over  the  elements  of 
nature  and  over  the  minds  and  bodies  of  men.  Upon  this 
belief  rested  the  prosecutions  and  convictions  for  witch- 
craft and  sorcery,  which  form  one  of  the  most  deplorable 
episodes  in  human  history.  While  this  superstition  in  its 
unchristian  and  cruel  form  is  fortunately  a  thing  of  the 
past,  the  idea  of  a  special  connection  of  evil  spirits  with 
pretended  sorcery,  witchcraft  and  even  spiritualism  in  our 
day  still  has  a  strong  hold  on  the  popular  mind.  The 
Mosaic  Law  recognized  the  belief  in  sorcery  to  this  extent, 
that  it  put  the  death  penalty  on  those  who  pretended  to  be 


74 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


witches  and  who  "turned  after  familiar  spirits"  (Ex.  22:18, 
Lev.  20:6).  In  the  book  of  Acts,  we  read,  that  Christian 
converts  from  the  heathen  who  had  "practiced  curious  arts, 
brought  their  books  together  and  burned  them"  (Acts  19  :19). 

While,  therefore,  the  possibility  of  sorcery  and  witch- 
craft, as  connected  with  evil  spirits,  may  not  be  denied, 
yet,  in  view  of  the  terrible  abuse  to  which  this  belief  has 
led  men  and  women  in  the  past,  we  should  be  slow  to  assume 
an  immediate  working  of  the  evil  power,  as  long  as  natural 
causes  suffice  to  account  for  strange  occurrences. 

7.  Value  of  the  Doctrine  of  Evil  Spirits. 
In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  said  and  of  the  direct  testi- 
mony of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  some  Christians  have  no  use 
whatever  for  the  doctrine  of  evil  spirits.  While  it  has 
rightly  been  said  that  our  salvation  depends  not  upon  belief 
in  the  devil,  but  upon  belief  in  Christ,  yet  the  following 
points  deserve  consideration  for  the  right  valuation  of  this 
doctrine : 

a.  It  is  of  great  importance  for  the  proper  understanding 
of  the  nature  of  sin  as  being  not  simply  traceable  to  human 
weakness,  but  to  a  personal  author  and  head  in  the  spirit- 
world. 

b.  It  shows  us  the  greatness  of  the  work  of  salvation,  as  a 
gracious  redemption  from  the  power  of  the  evil  one. 

c.  The  more  clearly  we  understand  the  abomination  and 
the  dangerous  character  of  sin,  as  a  rebellion  against  God, 
the  more  earnestly  will  the  battle  against  sin  be  fought  and 
the  more  sure  is  the  prospect  of  a  final  complete  victory 
over  sin. 

Chapter  XV.    The  Fall  of  Man. 

1.  The  Nature  of  Human  Sin. 

The  existence  of  human  sin  is  an  undeniable  fact.  There 
is  general  agreement  as  to  certain  acts,  words  and  thoughts 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


75 


being  wrong  and  the  sin  offerings  which  have  been  brought 
among  all  nations,  from  time  immemorial,  are  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  human  consciousness  of  sin.  But  what  is  that, 
which  we  call  "sin?"  Is  it  a  substance  or  a  principle,  a 
condition  or  an  act? 

a.  Sensuous  theory.  Without  considering  the  theory  that 
sin  is  equivalent  to  matter,  which  is  contrary  to  Bible  teach- 
ing, and  entirely  destroys  the  moral  aspect  of  good  and 
evil,  we  first  have  to  consider  the  sensuous  theory,  which 
regards  sin  as  the  necessary  product  of  man's  sensuous 
nature.  This  view  is  partly  founded  on  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  use  of  the  word  "flesh"  in  Eomans  8  and  elsewhere. 
It  defines  sin  as  the  predominance  of  the  appetites  of  the 
body  over  the  higher,  spiritual  part  of  man.  But,  accord- 
ing to  Scripture,  the  most  sinful  beings  are  evil  spirits,  and 
if  the  body  only  were  the  seat  of  sin,  its  decay  in  old  age 
ought  to  make  a  man  virtuous,  while  in  reality  the  aged 
sinner  gets  hardened  in  pride  and  unbelief.  Above  all,  if 
sin  were  an  inherent  attribute  of  our  physical  nature,  God 
in  being  the  author  of  our  bodily  organism,  would  be  the 
responsible  originator  of  human  sin. 

b.  Limitation  theory.  This  theory  explains  sin  as  a  neces- 
sary result  of  the  limitations  of  man's  finite  being:  "God 
alone  is  perfect,  because  he  is  infinite ;  no  created  being  can 
be  perfect.  When  God  created  the  world,  he  made  man 
weak  and  liable  to  error,  because  the  creature  cannot  be 
otherwise.  Hence  sin  is  identical  with  limitation  and  weak- 
ness and  a  necessary  attribute  of  humanity."  But  if  such 
were  the  case,  sin  ought  to  be  an  object  of  pity  and  not  of 
condemnation  before  God.  This  view  of  sin  contradicts 
both  conscience  and  Scripture,  by  denying  human  respon- 
sibility and  putting  the  blame  of  sin  on  the  Creator. 

c.  Antagonistic  theory.  Some  contend  that  all  life,  the 
moral  as  well  as  the  physical,  moves  in  contrasts.  As  there 
is  no  light  without  a  shadow,  there  oan  be  no  goodness 


76 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


without  its  counterpart — badness,  or  sin.  The  moral  world 
without  any  wrong-doing  would  be  a  stagnant  pool  without 
commotion,  a  monotonous  harmony  without  the  discord  of 
sin.  Sin  is  the  necessary'  disharmony  which  leads  to  a 
higher  harmony,  therefore  ian  element  in  human  education 
and  a  means  of  progress.  But  if  sin  were  the  mother  of 
holiness,  God  would  have  ordained  the  existence  of  some- 
thing which  he  now  punishes.  Compare  Paul's  declaration, 
Rom.  3  :8,  "as  some  affirm  that  we  say,  Let  us  do  evil,  that 
good  may  come;  whose  condemnation  is  just." 

d.  Scriptural  definition..  While  it  can  be  said  that  all 
men  have  a  vague  consciousness  of  sin  as  an  evil,  a  defect 
or  a  crime,  there  seems  to  be  no  proper  conception  of  the 
nature  of  sin  outside  of  the  sphere  of  revealed  religion. 
For  there  can  be  no  proper  definition  of  sin  which  makes 
no  reference  to  a  personal  God.  According  to  the  testimony 
of  Scripture,  which  is  confirmed  by  the  Christian  conscience, 
sin  is  1st.  Alienation  from  God  and  2d.  Transgression  of 
the  law  of  God.  Comp.  Rom.  8 :7,  "The  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  God,"  and  I  John  3  A,  "Sin  is  the  trans- 
gression of  the  law." 

Sin  has  reference  to  a  law  which  represents  the  will  of 
God.  The  creature  must  live  and  act  in  conformity  with 
the  will  of  the  Creator — must  obey  God.  Sin  means  dis- 
regard of  that  will,  disobedience,  transgression  of  God's  law. 

As  the  lawgiver  and  his  law  are  inseparable,  God  himself 
is  the  proper  center  of  the  life  of  the  creature,  the  center 
around  which  the  thought,  feeling  and  volition  of  the 
creature  must  revolve.  Sin  means  the  opposite  tendency, 
a  mode  of  existence  in  which  the  place  of  God  is  usurped  by 
the  creature.  The  sinner  is  out  of  harmony  with  God, 
alienated  from  him,  ungodly.  Sin  is  self-love,  self-seeking, 
selfishness. 

2.  The  Temptation. 
The  existence  of  sin  in  the  world  of  man  calls  for  an 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


77 


explanation  of  its  origin.  Reason  affords  no  light  on  this 
question,  but  the  Bible,  in  the  third  chapter  of  Genesis, 
gives  an  account  of  how  our  first  parents  lost  their  state  of 
communion  with  God,  through  Satan's  temptation  and  their 
disobedience  to  the  divine  commandment.  While  this  ac- 
count, in  its  childlike  simplicity,  may  contain  some  symbol- 
ical features,  there  is  no  reason  for  declaring  it  a  mere 
allegory  or  myth.  It  certainly  furnishes  the  most  rational 
explanation  of  the  present  condition  of  man.  Christ  and 
the  apostles  repeatedly  refer  to  it  as  a  historical  fact  and 
we  may  well  accept  it  as  true  in  all  its  essential  parts.  The 
record  speaks  of  two  trees  in  the  garden  of  Eden  which, 
by  divine  appointment,  had  a  peculiar  significance,  the  one, 
the  tree  of  life,  an  emblem  of  man's  communion  with  God 
and  a  pledge  of  immortal  life,  the  other,  the  tree  of 
knowledge,  the  emblem  of  man's  freedom  of  choice,  with 
regard  to  his  relation  to  the  Creator.  God  forbade  the 
eating  of  its  fruit.  He  did  not  forbid  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil  but  gave  the  commandment,  in  order  to  evoke 
the  free  obedience  of  man.  It  was  the  experimental  knowl- 
edge of  evil  which  Adam  and  Eve  were  to  avoid.  They 
were  to  learn  to  know  the  good  as  something  which  they, 
by  their  own  free  choice,  desired  and  practiced,  and  the 
evil  as  a  possibility  which  they  did  not  desire  and  would 
not  admit  into  their  being.  As  the  medium  of  probation 
was  a  tree,  so  the  instrument  of  temptation  was  a  serpent, 
so  that  both  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  world  were  in- 
volved in  the  fall.  But  the  serpent  was  simply  a  disguise 
of  Satan,  the  evil  spirit,  as  was  later  made  plain  to  man 
(John  8:44,  II  Cor.  11:3,  Rev.  12:9). 

The  temptation  is  described  as  having  proceeded  in  three 
stages,  viz.,  first,  exaggeration  of  the  prohibition  and  doubt 
with  regard  to  its  meaning;  second,  direct  denial  of  its 
truth  and  a  promise;  third,  the  aAvakening  of  pride  and 
lust.    By  presenting  the  fruit  of  the  tree  to  the  eye,  the 


78 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


sensuous  nature  was  appealed  to,  While  the  prospect  of 
independence  and  knowledge  ("be  as  God"  and  "desired 
to  make  wise")  was  calculated  to  rouse  a  feeling  of  self- 
will  and  conceit.  Thus  man  fell  inwardly,  before  the  out- 
ward act  was  committed.  Allowing  self  to  take  the  place 
of  God,  gave  rise  to  desire  and  desire  led  to  the  act  of 
transgression  (James  1:15,  Gen.  3:1-6).  Eve  ate  of  the 
forbidden  fruit.  Adam  followed  her  example  and  thus 
through  the  parentage  of  self-will  and  desire,  sin  was  born 
into  the  world  of  man.  How  it  was  possible,  that  the  first 
evil  inclination  found  lodgment  in  the  pure  heart  of  man, 
we  are,  indeed,  unable  to  explain.  But  the  Biblical  account 
of  the  origin  of  human  sin  is  the  best  that  has  ever  been 
given. 

3.  Immediate  Effects  of  the  Fall. 

Adam  and  Eve,  at  once,  realized  the  difference  between 
good  and  evil,  by  finding  themselves  in  the  evil.  They  had 
become  their  own  gods,  by  being  inwardly  separated  from 
the  grace  of  the  Creator ;  but  all  that  they  had  gained  was  a 
feeling  of  shame  and  fear.  Their  conscience  was  disturbed 
by  the  sense  of  spiritual  disgrace  and  loss  of  the  proper 
balance,  in  the  spirit's  rule  over  the  impulses  of  sense.  The 
higher  element  in  man  had  followed  the  suggestions  of  the 
lower,  animal,  nature  and  Adam  and  Eve  felt  that  they 
were  now  no  longer  able  to  control  their  appetites  which, 
hitherto  pure  and  good,  had  become  perverse.  This  con- 
sciousness of  disorder  produced  the  feeling  of  shame  which, 
in  turn,  resulted  in  the  feeling  of  guilt  and  fear. 

With  this  internal  effect  of  the  fall  came  a  realization  of 
the  outward  consequences  of  sin,  as  expressed  in  the  story 
of  the  divine  judgment,  which  followed  the  fall  and  in  the 
sentence  of  trouble,  disease  and  death  pronounced  upon  the 
sinners.  That  physical  death,  in  the  sense  of  change,  decay 
and  dissolution  of  the  body,  was  in  this  world  before  the 
appearance  of  man  and  therefore  before  the  entrance  of 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


79 


sin,  seems  to  be  an  established  fact.  Whether  or  not  the 
apparent  physical  suffering  and  death  in  the  animal  crea- 
tion is  explained  on  the  ground  of  a  judicial  anticipation 
of  the  entrance  of  sin,  as  some  think  (Rom.  8:21,  22),  it  is 
evident  that  the  nature  of  man's  body  as  formed  of  earthly 
materials  implied  the  possibility  of  mortality  or  dissolution 
from  the  first.  But  what  was  only  possible,  became  actual, 
when  the  soul  was  no  longer  able  to  spiritualize  the  body 
and  when  sinful  man  was  cut  off  from  approach  to  the 
"tree  of  life"  (Gen.  3:19,  22). 

4.   Why  was  the  Fall  not  Prevented? 

Here  the  question  is  often  raised:  Why  was  Satan  per- 
mitted to  tempt  man?  and,  could  not  the  creator  have  given 
the  needful  power  of  resisting  the  temptation?  Some  have 
made  the  reply,  that  sin  was  evidently  a  necessity  for  bring- 
ing about  the  desired  progress  of  the  human  race  or  for  the 
final  increase  of  man's  happiness,  because  he  would  never 
have  known  the  depth  of  the  love  and  mercy  of  God,  had  he 
not  fallen  into  sin.  But  as  it  is  an  axiom  of  Christian 
faith,  that  the  holy  God  cannot  ordain  sin  in  order  to  effect 
good  by  it,  we  cannot  accept  that  reply.  The  cause  of  the 
temptation  and  of  Adam's  fall,  must  lie  in  man's  freedom 
and  the  need  of  a  conscious  choice  between  Good  and  Evil. 
Man  made  his  choice  contrary  to  the  will  of  God. 

We  may  say,  however,  that  the  Creator  made  provision 
for  the  eventuality  of  man's  fall  in  various  ways: 

a.  He  created  man  a  physico-spiritual  being,  in  which  the 
human  personality  but  gradually  grows  into  full  conscious- 
ness and  corresponding  responsibility.  Accordingly  the 
Fall  of  man  was  not  the  apostacy  of  a  fixed  personality  and 
a  fully  determined  will.  It  was  a  sin  of  weakness  rather 
than  of  presumption. 

b.  By  allowing  the  temptation  to  approach  man  from 
without,  God  lessened  the  effects  of  the  Fall  and  prevented 
an  absolute  ruin.    It  was  the  mitigating  circumstance  of 


so 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


man's  Fall,  that  his  sin  did  not  originate  within  himself. 

c.  The  body  of  man,  while  it  was  a  factor  in  the  trans- 
gression, also  helped  to  divert  the  worst  consequences  of 
sin  through  sickness,  suffering  and  death.  Furthermore, 
as  the  physical  part  in  man  was  the  medium  of  temptation, 
it  has  also  been  made  the  medium  of  salvation,  through  the 
incarnation  of  Christ  and  through  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel. 

d.  Although  we  dare  not  say  that  man  will  eventually 
attain  to  a  higher  objective  felicity  through  his  Fall,  his 
subjective  enjoyment  of  salvation  may  be  heightened,  by  his 
having  tasted  the  bitterness  of  sin  and  having  learned  to 
know  Christ  as  the  Saviour  from  sin. 

Chapter  XVI.   Universality  and  Guilt  of  Sin. 
1.  The  Inherited  Depravity. 

The  effects  and  consequences  of  the  Fall  were  not  con- 
fined to  our  first  ancestors.  They  have  influenced  the  en- 
tire race  of  man.  How  the  first  sin  gave  rise  to  the  sins  of 
countless  millions  of  mankind,  on  this  point  the  Bible  gives 
us  no  information.  It  simply  states  the  fact,  that  there  is 
a  causal  connection  between  Adam's  trangression  and  the 
sins  of  his  descendants.  In  particular  does  Paul  in  Rom. 
5 :12  declare,  that  "through  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world  and  death  through  sin;  and  so  death  passed  unto 
all  men,  for  that  all  sinned,"  and  in  v.  19 :  "through  the 
one  man's  disobedience  the  many  were  made  sinners." 
The  nature  of  the  connection  between  the  first  Fall  and  the 
sins  of  Adam's  posterity  is  not  stated  and  we  may  not  be 
able  to  explain  it,  but  the  results  of  the  inheritance  are 
clearly  taught  here  and  elsewhere  in  Scripture  and  con- 
firmed by  experience. 

Both  in  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  man's  present 
nature  is  defined  as  flesh"  (Gen.  6:3  and  John  3:6).  Man 
has  lost  the  true  spiritual  life.    His  physical  and  his  moral 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


81 


activity  are  no  longer  ruled  by  the  spirit,  but  by  the  flesh. 
The  leading  attributes  of  this  state  of  man — the  natural 
human  character — are  designated,  on  the  one  hand,  as 
weakness,  physical  and  spiritual  infirmity,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  positive  enmity  against  spiritual  and  divine  things.  And 
this  inherited  corruption  is  coextensive  with  humanity,  how- 
ever different  in  degree  it  may  be.  All  men  are  liable  to 
disease  and  death  and  all  are  sinners.  The  natural  tendency 
of  every  man  is  to  be  selfish,  to  live  for  himself  rather  than 
to  love  God  and  to  live  for  God  (Rom.  5  :14  and  8  :7).  This 
is  what  is  sometimes  called  "original  sin"  (peccatum 
originale),  because  it  is  accounted  for  on  the  ground  of 
inheritance  from  the  first  ancestors  and  clings  to  every 
individual  human  being  as  a  member  of  the  race.  The 
use  of  the  term  "original  sin"  however,  is  objectionable  as 
liable  to  misunderstanding. 

2.  The  Pelagian  Heresy. 

The  doctrine  of  a  universal  depravity  of  the  human  race 
and  of  the  connection  of  the  prevailing  corruption  with 
Adam's  Fall  was  first  openly  denied  by  the  British  monk 
Pelagius,  who  taught  that  sin  is  not  propagated  and  that 
the  fall  of  our  first  parents  has  exercised  no  prejudicial 
influence  on  their  posterity.  All  men  are  born  in  a  state 
of  innocence,  possess  the  power  of  free  will  and  may  there- 
fore live  without  sin,  if  they  earnestly  strive  to  do  so.  They 
are  by  nature  neither  holy  nor  sinful,  except  that  children 
now  born  are  exposed  to  evil  influences  by  precept  and  ex- 
ample. Sin  is  not  a  condition  or  natural  state,  but  only  a 
voluntary  act.  God  does  not  require  more  than  man  can  do. 
Hence  only  a  deliberate  choice  of  evil  is  sinful. 

This  Pelagian  heresy  was  condemned  by  the  Council  of 
Carthage,  A.D.  412,  the  Church  having  fully  endorsed  the 
teaching  of  Augustine,  that  Adam's  sin  made  all  his  pos- 
terity sinful  and  alienated  from  God.  However,  the  decla- 
6 


82 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


ration  of  some  Church  Fathers,  that  man,  born  in  sin,  can 
do  absolutely  nothing  that  is  good,  stirred  up  new  opposition, 
which  took  shape  in  the  so-ealled  Semipelagian  doctrine.  It 
held,  that  the  effect  of  Adam's  sin  was  to  make  the  body 
mortal  and  the  soul  inclined  to  evil,  but  the  sinner  is  able 
to  begin  the  work  of  conversion  by  co-operating  with  the 
grace  of  God,  in  gaining  salvation  and  sanctification.  Semi- 
pelagianism,  also,  was  condemned  by  several  Church  councils 
as  a  heresy,  although  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  before 
the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century,  practically,  taught 
it  almost  everywhere.  However,  the  Reformers  and  the 
Catholic  Council  of  Trent  again  took  their  stand  on  the 
Augustinian  doctrine,  as  taught  in  the  Bible  and  confirmed 
by  Christian  consciousness. 

3.  The  Universality  of  Sin. 
The  points  comprised  under  the  general  head  of  univer- 
sal depravity  appear  to  be  the  following : 

a.  It  is  coextensive  with  the  race.  All  men  are  infected 
with  sin.  We  are  a  race  of  sinners.  No  tribe,  family  or 
individual  is  entirely  free  from  the  contamination.  There 
is  no  place  found,  where  sin  is  not  and  none  from  which 
it  can  be  excluded.  We  have  no  record  of  any  human  being 
that  is  or  was  without  fault  or  sin.  The  universality  of  sin 
offerings  among  pagan  nations  testifies  to  the  general  con- 
viction of  man  in  regard  to  this  fact.  The  Old  Testament 
ritual  is  based  upon  the  supposition  that  all  men  are  guilty 
of  transgression  and  the  testimony  of  Holy  Scripture  both 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testament  is  plain  and  emphatic. 
Compare  I  Kings  8  :46,  "There  is  no  man  that  sinneth  not 
Rom.  3  :23,  "for  all  have  sinned  and  fall  short  of  the  glory 
of  God ;"  I  J ohn  1 :10,  "If  we  say  that  we  have  not  sinned, 
we  make  him  a  liar,  and  his  word  is  not  in  us." 

b.  It  is  a  radical  evil.  We  need  not,  endorse  the  declara- 
tion of  Augustine  that  "all  the  virtues  of  the  heathen  are 
but  shining  vices."    Men   are  not  all  equally  wicked  or 


PART  SECOND  SIX. 


83 


altogether  destitute  of  moral  worth.  They  are  certainly 
able  to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong,  to  choose  the 
good  and  to  reject  the  evil.  Some  are  naturally  "righteous," 
pure  and  unselfish.  But  they  all  have  the  taint  of  sin  in 
the  form  of  a  corrupt  germ  or  tendency  and  this  is  a  radical 
evil,  a  poison  that  has  penetrated  to  the  very  core  of  man's 
being.  It  is  impossible  to  get  rid  of  it.  Men  have  subjected 
themselves  to  painful  discipline,  they  have  withdrawn  from 
society  ,they  have  made  every  effort  to  eradicate  the  evil 
tendency;  all  to  no  avail. 

c.  It  is  propagated  by  heredity.  That  this  universal  and 
deep-rooted  corruption  in  its  twofold  manifestation  of  sin 
and  death  stands  in  connection  with  the  fall  of  Adam  and 
Eve,  is  distinctly  taught  in  Rom.  5  :12,  18.  It  is  propagated 
from  generation  to  generation.  It  shows  itself  in  early 
childhood,  before  example  or  precept  have  influenced  the 
child  either  way.  As  soon  as  the  child  becomes  capable  of 
any  moral  manifestation,  a  tendency  to  self-will,  envy  and 
anger  is  likely  to  be  noticed  and  the  natural  development, 
if  left  to  itself,  is  worldly  and  not  godly  (Ps.  51:5).  "We 
inherit  from  our  ancestors  not  only  their  bodily  peculiari- 
ties and  mental  qualities,  but  also  the  moral  and  religious 
disposition.  Repeated  sins,  which  have  become  fixed  habits, 
are  thus  transmitted  to  the  descendants,  so  that  the  children 
come  into  the  world  with  a  disordered  nature.  They  also 
come  into  a  world,  where  sin  abounds  and  are  affected  by 
the  sinful  environment,  which  is  a  part  of  our  race  inherit- 
ance. Thus  the  fall  of  Adam  has  affected  all  his  posterity 
physically,  intellectually  and  spiritually.  The  entire  race 
is  implicated  in  the  consequences  of  Adam's  sin. 

4.   Theories  of  Imputation. 

A  question  much  debated  among  theologians  has  been 
that  of  the  "Imputation  of  Adam's  sin,"  in  other  words, 
the  question  whether  all  men  are  held  responsible — liable  to 
condemnation — for  this  inherited  depravity  or  not?  The 


84 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


term  Imputation  comes  from  the  Vulgate  Translation  of 
Rom.  5  :12,  13,  "in  quo  imputantur,"  but  there  is  no  agree- 
ment as  to  the  exact  meaning  attached  to  the  word.  The 
principal  theories  on  Imputation  are  the  following: 

a.  Natural  Head  Theory  (Augustine).  It  holds,  that  God 
imputes  the  sin  of  Adam  to  all  his  posterity  in  virtue  of 
the  organic  unity  by  which  the  whole  race  at  the  time  of 
Adam's  transgression  existed  enclosed  in  their  common 
ancestor,  like  the  oak-tree  in  the  acorn.  The  total  life  of 
humanity  was  then  in  Adam  and  his  will  was  that  of  the 
race.    All  humanity  acted  responsibly  in  him. 

b.  Federal  Head  Theory  (Cocceius  of  Leyden,  +1669). 
According  to  this  theory  Adam  was  constituted  by  God's 
appointment  the  representative  of  the  whole  human  race. 
With  Adam  God  entered  into  a  covenant,  in  accordance  with 
wbich  God  accounts  all  his  descendants  as  sinners  because 
of  Adam's  transgression.  As  the  head  of  a  nation  is  held 
responsible  for  the  people  and  the  latter  for  their  ruler, 
thus  Adam's  posterity  is  punished  for  the  breaking  of  the 
covenant  on  the  part  of  the  federal  head  of  the  human  race. 

c.  Preexistence  Theory  (Origen).  Some  who  believe  that 
man  existed  in  another  state,  before  he  was  born  into  this 
material  world,  claim  that  all  men  have  voluntarily  and 
individually  sinned  against  God,  in  that  preexistent  state, 
and  are  now  burdened  with  the  guilt  of  sin  committed  in 
the  spirit,  before  their  earthly  birth. 

d.  Mediate  Imputation  Theory  (Placeus  of  Saumur, 
+  1655).  Some  deny  all  direct  imputation  of  Adam's  sin, 
but  believe  in  an  indirect  or  mediate  imputation.  We  in- 
herit a  corrupt  nature  and  sinful  tendencies  and  it  is  this 
hereditary  taint  which  makes  us  guilty  before  God.  Adam's 
sin  is  not  imputed  to  us  in  Adam,  but  in  ourselves,  because 
the  inborn  depravity  is  the  source  of  all  actual  sin.  Not 
the  wickedness  of  sin,  but  the  liability  to  punishment  is 
imputed. 


PAET  SECOND  SIN. 


85 


e.  No  Imputation.  Many  theologians,  to  whom  none  of 
the  preceding  theories  seemed  satisfactory,  have  entirely 
discarded  the  idea  of  an  imputation  of  guilt  on  account  of 
Adam's  fall.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  the  Pelagian 
error  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  inherited  depravity, 
both  the  Arminian  and  the  "New  School"  (New  England) 
theologians  have  rejected  the  imputation  of  Adam's  guilt, 
the  former  holding  that  the  depraved  nature  of  the  de- 
scendants does  not  in  itself  involve  guilt,  unless  consciously 
appropriated,  the  latter  that  nothing  can  be  properly  called 
sin  except  a  voluntary  act  of  transgression. 

5.  The  Question  of  Responsibility. 
As  already  stated,  the  advocates  of  the  doctrine  of  impu- 
tation base  their  arguments  mainly  upon  St.  Paul's  teach- 
ing in  Rom.  5  :12-21,  and  much  can  be  said  in  favor  of  both 
the  theories,  of  the  natural  and  of  the  federal  headship  of 
Adam.  "We  see  the  principle  of  representation  exemplified 
throughout  the  entire  course  of  history.  God's  moral 
government  in  dispensing  sufferings  and  happiness,  judges 
nations  as  an  organic  whole.  Compare  Ex.  34:7,  "visiting 
the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  and  upon  the 
children's  children,"  also  Jerem.  32  :18,  and  the  self-impre- 
cation of  the  Jews :  "His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  chil- 
dren," bitterly  fulfilled  in  their  descendants.  Children  do 
bear  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers.  But,  does  that  prove 
that  the  children  are  responsible  for  the  iniquity  of  their 
fathers?  Will  a  righteous  God  hold  the  generation  of  men 
now  born  into  the  world  guilty  for  the  sin  committed  by 
Adam  and  Eve,  because  it  has  been  transmitted  to  them? 
Could  the  God  of  love  condemn  a  soul  to  eternal  punish- 
ment because  of  the  involuntary  inheritance  of  a  depraved 
nature?  That  is  utterly  at  variance  with  our  conception 
of  God. 

We  must  keep  in  view  the  twofold  position  of  man.  On 
the  one  hand,  he  is  a  free  agent,  personally  accountable,  an 


86 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


individual  being,  created  after  the  image  of  God;  on  the 
other  hand,  he  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  human  race,  limited 
and  influenced  by  heredity  and  environment.  All  men,  as 
descended  from  one  pair  and  members  of  the  same  family, 
share  in  the  hereditary  taint  of  sin  and  the  hereditary  taint 
of  suffering,  in  ungodly  tendencies  and  desires,  in  lack  of 
true  understanding  and  in  physical  weakness  and  disease. 
This  corrupt  or  disordered  nature  debars  the  natural  man 
from  communion  with  the  holy  God  and  excludes  him  from 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  personal  guilt  and  punishment 
for  guilt  can  be  attributed  or  imputed  only,  where  there  is 
personal  assent  to  the  evil,  as  is  also  taught  in  Scripture. 
Compare  Ezek.  18  :20,  "The  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity 
of  the  father,"  Jer.  31 :30,  "Every  one  shall  die  for  his  own 
iniquity." 

Accordingly,  the  inherited  corruption  unfits  man  for 
heaven,  but  does  not  as  such  condemn  him  to  punishment. 
If  the  Son  of  God  had  not  come  to  redeem  mankind,  it  would 
be  a  question,  what  becomes  of  children  who  die  before 
they  have  committed  any  conscious  sin  and  yet  are  separated 
from  God  by  their  natural  depravity.  But  now  the  question 
of  imputation  is  of  no  practical  consequence,  as  Paul  writes 
in  Rom.  5 :19,  "As  through  the  one  man's  disobedience  the 
many  were  made  sinners,  even  so  through  the  obedience  of 
the  one  shall  the  many  be  made  righteous."  As  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ  does  not  save  us,  unless  we  personally 
receive  and  appropriate  it,  so  Adam's  sin  does  not  condemn 
us,  unless  we  have  made  it  our  own. 

6.  Personal  Guilt. 
With  the  awakening  of  moral  consciousness  begins  the 
responsibility  for  transgression.  Whether  the  voice  of  con- 
science is  heard  before,  warning  us  not  to  yield  to  the  evil 
tendency  or  whether  that  voice  speaks  only  after  the  evil 
is  committed,  we  feel  guilty  of  sin,  irrespective  of  any  in- 
herited depravity.     To  a  greater  or  less  extent,  all  men, 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


87 


beginning  at  childhood,  consent  by  free  choice  to  the  tempta- 
tions which  come  to  them  from  their  disordered  nature  and 
sinful  surroundings.  Some,  indeed,  appear  to  be  born  into 
a  state  of  greater  corruption  than  others,  so  that  their 
personal  responsibility  is  lessened. 

It  exceeds  our  power  of  discrimination,  to  decide  how 
much  of  the  sin  committed  is  due  to  heredity  and  environ- 
ment, and  how  much  to  free  choice.  Accordingly,  we  cannot 
determine  the  measure  of  personal  guilt  in  other  men,  and 
especially  among  the  heathen.  We  cannot  even  judge  our- 
selves. But  under  the  new  covenant,  (the  covenant  of  salva- 
tion), there  is  but  one  sin  which  actually  and  definitely 
condemns  the  sinner,  viz.,  a  willful  rejection  of  the  offer 
of  salvation  in  Christ  Jesus  (John  3  :36). 

Chapter  XVII.    The  Growth  of  Sin  and  its  Successive 
Stages. 

1.  Not  all  Equally  Sinful. 

The  universal  depravity  of  mankind  does  not  exclude 
grades  in  sinfulness.  There  are  men  who  know  nothing  of 
redeeming  grace  and  yet  are  naturally  good,  well  disposed 
and  honest.  It  can  be  said  of  them  that  they  are  "not  far 
from  the  kingdom  of  God"  (Mark  12:34),  while  others  seem 
very  depraved.  There  are  those  who  may  be  called  virtuous, 
and  there  may  even  be  a  progress  in  the  direction  of 
righteousness,  though,  as  a  rule,  the  tendency  is  toward  in- 
creased transgression,  indifference  and  spiritual  blindness. 
The  term  "total  depravity"  which  is  frequently  applied  to 
all  unconverted  men,  if  it  is  to  express  a  state  of  utter 
wickedness,  is  hardly  appropriate. 

We  find  whole  families,  and  even  tribes  of  men,  in  whom 
honesty,  sobriety,  and  a  certain  religiousness  seem  to  be  a 
hereditary  possession,  while  in  others  sin  has  attained  a 
luxuriant  growth  and  produces  the  most  abominable  vices. 
Piety  and  morality  can  be  improved  by  training  and  ex- 


8S 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


ample.  Environments,  even  the  climate,  have  much  to  do 
with  the  manifestation  of  either  sin  or  righteousness. 
Furthermore,  special  visitations  of  grace  or  of  discipline, 
provided  by  the  educational  wisdom  of  God,  frequently  put 
a  check  upon  the  gross  outbursts  of  sin,  and  moral  reforma- 
tions are  frequently  brought  about  in  nations,  as  well  as  in 
individuals,  after  they  have  been,  for  a  time,  totally  given 
over  to  the  practice  of  sin. 

2.  The  Power  of  Sin. 
While,  therefore,  the  natural  man  is  not  always  as  de- 
praved as  he  might  be,  yet  standing,  as  he  does,  in  a  false 
relation  to  God,  the  main  purpose  of  his  life  is  wrong.  His 
virtue  does  not  satisfy  the  demands  of  perfect  righteousness 
and  holiness,  and  cannot  be  acceptable  to  God.  The  sinful 
corruption  within  operates  like  a  poison,  spreading  itself 
simultaneously  with  the  growth  of  consciousness.  The 
heart,  the  fountain  of  life,  is  ungodly;  accordingly  the 
conscience  is  being  defiled,  the  spiritual  understanding  is 
dimmed  and  the  will  is  enslaved  to  sin.  The  body  also 
yields  its  members  as  "instruments  of  unrighteousness" 
(Rom.  6:13).  Every  outbreak  of  sin  prepares  the  way  for 
another  outbreak,  as  sin  begets  sin.  The  evil  propensity 
waxes  stronger,  while  the  restraining  power  grows  weaker. 

3.   Classification  of  Sins. 

It  is  customary  to  distinguish  between  gross  sins  and 
light  sins,  and  this  distinction  has  some  foundation  in  John 
19:11,  "he  hath  greater  sin,"  and  in  Luke  12:48,  "shall  be 
beaten  with  few  stripes,"  etc.  However,  since  God  alone 
knows  the  heart  and  all  the  conditions  and  circumstances 
which  shape  a  man's  course,  he  only  can  decide  which  sins 
are  really  gross  or  light,  great  or  small. 

As  to  the  manifestations  of  sin,  we  distinguish  between 
sins  of  lust  and  sins  of  pride.  The  former  result  from 
man's  degrading  himself  beneath  the  sphere  assigned  to  him, 


PART  SECOND — SIN. 


89 


to  the  level  of  the  brute,  the  latter  from  his  trying  to  raise 
himself  above  his  station  and  thus  running  the  risk  of  be- 
coming a  devil.  Compare  I  John  2 :16,  "the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes  and  the  vain  glory  of  life," 
and  I  Tim.  3  :6,  "lest  being  puffed  up  he  fall  into  the  con- 
demnation of  the  devil." 

Other  classifications  of  sins  are:  a.  Sins  against  God, 
against  our  neighbor  and  against  ourselves,  h.  Sins  of  com- 
mission and  omission,  c.  Sins  in  thought,  word  and  deed. 
d.  Sins  of  ignorance  and  sins  of  presumption,  that  is,  wil- 
fully committed. 

The  Roman  Church,  in  addition,  distinguishes  between 
what  are  called  venial  sins  (peccata  venalia)  and  mortal 
sins  (peccata  mortalia),  a  distinction  based  upon  I  John 
5 :16.  Mortal  sins,  they  say,  are  those  that  "subvert  the 
end  of  the  law,"  venial  or  pardonable  sins  only  "divert" 
the  end  of  God's  law  to  some  extent.  We  hold  that  every 
sin  unpardoned  is  mortal,  and  that  all  sins  are  pardonable, 
since  Christ  has  died  for  all,  provided  they  are  repented  of. 

4.  Stages  of  Sin. 

In  the  growth  and  development  of  sin,  we  can  distinguish 
four  successive  stages  which  follow  upon  each  other  in 
natural  order. 

o.  The  first  is  the  state  of  discord.  It  arises  from  the 
disharmony  between  the  sinful  tendency  and  the  spiritual 
desire  in  man.  The  natural  man  may  live  for  a  shorter  or 
longer  time  without  becoming  aware  of  any  such  discord. 
The  law  of  God  is  not  revealed  to  the  heart,  as  Paul  writes :. 
"I  had  not  known  sin,  except  through  the  law . . .  And  I  was 
alive  apart  from  the  law  once"  (Rom.  7  :7,  9).  But  then 
there  is  a  conflict  going  on  within,  between  the  dictates  of 
conscience  on  the  one  hand  and  evil  desires  on  the  other 
hand,  as  Paul  expresses  it  in  Rom.  7  :14,  "we  know  that  the 
law  is  spiritual,  but  I  am  carnal,  sold  under  sin." 


90 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


b.  Slavery.  The  result  of  this  conflict,  as  a  rule,  is 
spiritual  bondage.  The  sinful  tendency  prevails.  After  a 
short  struggle  man  becomes  a  captive  to  a  hostile  power. 
He  is  compelled  to  do  what  he  feels  to  be  wrong,  although 
conscience  upbraids  him.  Rom.  7  :19,  "For  the  good  which 
I  would,  I  do  not;  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I 
practice." 

c.  False  Security.  The  oftener  a  man  thus  acts  against 
better  knowledge,  the  less  and  less  vigorous  the  resisting 
power  and  the  protest  of  conscience  become.  Sinful  acts 
produce  sinful  habits,  and  sinful  habits  form  a  sinful 
character.  The  evil  strikes  deeper  roots  in  the  will,  as  well 
as  in  the  perception  and  feeling  of  the  sinner,  resulting  in 
a  condition  of  spiritual  indifference,  which  in  Scripture  is 
referred  to  under  the  figure  of  a  deep  sleep  or  even  of 
death.  Eph.  6 :14,  "Awake  thou  that  sleepest  and  arise 
from  the  dead." 

d.  Hardening  of  heart.  The  la9t  stage  in  this  downward 
progress  is  that  of  positive  unwillingness  to  be  roused  from 
the  state  of  indifference,  a  state  of  conscious  hardening  of 
the  heart  against  the  divine  testimony.  Often  the  sinner  is 
drawn  out  of  this  condition  by  divine  chastisement  or 
mercy;  but  if  it  continues  unchecked,  the  sleep  of  sin  can 
only  end  in  spiritual  death.  Sin  gains  complete  control 
over  the  sinner  who  loses  the  faculty  for  repentance.  He 
takes  delight  in  the  evil  as  such  and  eventually  becomes 
entirely  identified  with  sin.  He  commits  the  sin  to  which 
our  Saviour  refers  as  the  unpardonable  sin. 

5.  Sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit. 
When  the  Pharisees,  with  deliberate  falsehood,  ascribed 
the  works  of  healing  performed  by  Christ  to  the  power  of 
the  devil,  they  were  warned  not  to  blaspheme  against  the 
Holy  Spirit,  because  "whosoever  shall  speak  against  the 
Holy  Spirit,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this 
world  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come"  (Matth.  12:32).  The 


PART  SECOND  SIN. 


91 


context  of  the  passage  quoted  and  the  general  declarations 
of  Scripture  on  this  point  make  it  plain,  that  the  Sin 
against  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an  isolated 
act,  but  as  the  culmination  of  a  long  course  of  self -hardening. 
The  blasphemous  words  of  Christ's  enemies  were  an 
evidence  of  deliberate  opposition  and  conscious  rejection  of 
the  salvation  offered  to  the  world  through  Christ  Jesus. 
The  Holy  Spirit  represents  the  last  and  highest  manifesta- 
tion of  the  saving  grace  of  God.  The  Pharisees  were  in 
danger  of  committing  the  unpardonable  sin  by  their  obsti- 
nate impenitence  and  hardening  of  the  heart. 

Some  contend  that  this  sin  cannot  be  committed  at  the 
present  time,  because  eyewitnesses  only  of  Christ's  miracles 
had  such  conclusive  evidence  of  the  gracious  revelation  of 
God.  as  seems  necessary  for  a  wilful  and  final  rejection  of 
salvation.  However,  all  sinning  against  better  knowledge 
is  a  step  in  that  direction,  because  it  tends  to  destroy 
spiritual  life,  and  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
spiritual  suicide  (compare  Heb.  10:26).  It  is  unpardon- 
able, not  because  of  any  lack  of  saving  power  in  Christ,  but 
because  those  who  commit  this  sin,  will  not  repent  and 
seek  forgiveness. 

Whether  or  not  in  any  special  case,  this  sin  has  been  com- 
mitted, men  can  not  decide.  However  deep  a  sinner  may 
have  fallen,  however  long  he  may  have  continued  impeni- 
tent, however  terrible  may  be  his  despair,  when  at  last  he 
realizes  his  condition,  every  sinner  can  obtain  pardon  and 
peace  with  God,  provided  he  repents.  But  Holy  Scripture 
solemnly  warns  the  sinner  not  to  harden  his  heart,  for  fear 
that,  eventually,  repentance  and  a  change  of  heart  may 
become  impossible  (Hebr.  6:4-6,  I  John  5:16). 


92 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Chapter  XVIII.   The  Penalty  of  Sin. 

1.  Why  Sin  is  Punished. 
By  penalty  of  sin  we  mean  every  pain  or  loss,  direct 
or  indirect,  by  which  the  transgressor  pays  for  his  wrong- 
doing, whether  the  suffering  be  the  natural  consequence  of 
the  sin  committed  or  a  positive  infliction  of  punishment. 
That  sin  be  punished,  is  demanded  both  by  the  power  of 
God  and  by  his  holiness.  Unpunished  sin  would  present 
the  alternative,  either  that  God  had  no  power  to  conquer 
sin,  or  that  he  was  reconciled  to  the  evil.  Punishment  of 
sin  is  not  at  variance  with  God's  love.  He  is  always  the 
same  loving  God,  even  though  to  the  sinner  he  appears  as  a 
stern  judge;  just  as  the  sun  always  shines  the  same,  but 
dark  clouds  may  intervene  or  his  rays,  which  quicken  the 
vital  germs  and  produce  vigor  and  beauty,  may  scorch  and 
destroy  that  which  has  lost  its  vitality.  Punishment  for 
sin  is  a  simple  asserting  of  the  holiness  of  God  and  of  his 
law. 

The  Biblical  terms  which  are  used  to  express  divine  dis- 
pleasure, particularly  those  in  the  Old  Testament,  may 
appear  to  some  inappropriate  and  unworthy  of  God,  relics 
of  a  supposed  narrow  view  of  the  Father  in  heaven.  They 
are,  doubtless,  borrowed  from  the  conduct  of  an  offended 
human  ruler  or  judge.  The  wrath,  anger,  curse,  revenge 
of  God  are  all  anthropopathic  illustrations,  but  they  are  no 
exaggerations.  They  express  forcibly  and  graphically  the 
fact  that  sin  is  an  abomination  before  the  holy  God,  some- 
thing that  cannot  be  endured  or  condoned  (Bom.  1 :18). 

2.  Degrees  of  Punishment. 

There  are  different  degrees  or  stages  of  punishment,  even 
as  there  are  different  grades  of  sin. 

a.  The  first  experience  of  the  divine  displeasure  comes  to 
the  sinner  through  the  moral  consciousness  that  he  has  lost 
the  true  relation  to  God.    This  we  call  the  evil  conscience, 


PART  SECOND — SIN. 


93 


the  voice  within,  which  tells  man  that,  by  transgressing  the 
divine  law,  he  has  rendered  himself  unworthy  of  the  divine 
favor.  Conscience  speaks  with  authority  and  pronounces 
judgment  on  our  acts  as  well  as  on  our  condition,  either 
past  or  present.  The  effect  of  this  testimony  is  a  feeling  of 
unrest,  fear  and  remorse.  The  pangs  of  conscience  may 
become  a  source  of  great  suffering,  more  painful  than 
physical  affliction. 

b.  The  next  form  of  punishment  for  sin  is  physical  and 
social  pain  or  loss.  The  sinner,  because  he  is  separated 
from  the  fountain  of  life  and  happiness,  must  expect  suffer- 
ing, whether  it  comes  as  the  natural  result  of  a  trans- 
gression of  physical  and  social  laws  or  as  a  providential  ap- 
pointment. Bodily  weakness  and  disease,  various  affec- 
tions of  the  mind,  as  well  as  domestic  and  social  troubles, 
poverty,  bereavement,  grief  and  shame,  in  short  all  the 
sufferings  to  which  man  is  liable  are,  at  least  indirectly,  the 
fruit  and  penalty  of  sin.  In  many  cases  the  troubles  that 
come  upon  us,  are  simply  the  result  of  our  own  mistakes 
and  wrong  doings,  "we  reap  what  we  have  sown;"  in  other 
cases  there  is  no  apparent  connection  of  personal  guilt. 
There  is  individual  sin  and  punishment,  and  there  is  race 
sin,  with  race  punishment.  Natural  calamities  which  visit 
a  community  or  an  entire  nation,  such  as :  war,  famine  and 
epidemics,  must  be  traced  to  the  same  cause.  The  Flood, 
the  destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the  plagues  of 
Egypt,  the  Babylonish  captivity  and  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  are  mentioned  in  Scripture  as 
examples  of  the  rule,  that  human  sin  is  punished  by  physical 
and  social  suffering.  It  must  not  be  concluded,  however, 
that  sin  and  suffering  always  stand  in  the  same  proportion 
to  each  other,  neither  can  the  degree  of  the  individual  guilt 
be  measured  by  the  degree  of  suffering  to  which  a  man  or 
a  community  is  subjected.  (Luke  13  :4,  "those  eighteen  upon 
whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell  and  killed  them,  think  ye 


94 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


that  they  were  offenders  above  all  the  men  that  dwell  in 
Jerusalem?  I  tell  you  Nay.")  Some  men  suffer  because 
of  the  transgression  of  their  parents,  some,  by  special  divine 
ordaining,  for  their  own  improvement,  and  some  for  the 
benefit  of  others. 

c.  To  the  class  of  earthly  and  temporal  punishments  for 
sin,  finally,  belongs  bodily  death  or  the  separation  of  the 
soul  from  the  body.  It  is  on  account  of  sin,  that  men  are 
doomed  to  die  and  that  the  body  returns  to  the  dust  from 
which  it  was  taken.  Death  is  a  race  punishment,  which 
befalls  the  bad  and  the  relatively  good  alike.  Accordingly, 
it  is  generally  anticipated  by  men  with  feelings  of  fear 
and  anxiety.   Rom.  6  :23,  "The  wages  of  sin  is  death." 

3.  Punishment  as  a  Means  of  Grace. 

All  earthly  punishments,  be  they  of  the  moral,  social  or 
physical  kind,  are  at  the  same  time  means  of  grace,  that  is, 
a  discipline  intended  to  save  the  sinner  from  future  punish- 
ment. All  natural  evils  are  checks  upon  sin  and  incentives 
to  repentance  and  salvation.  While  it  has  been  rightly 
said,  that  the  primary  object  of  penalty  is  not  reformatory 
or  preventive,  but  vindication  of  the  sanctity  of  the  law, 
there  is  always  an  element  of  grace  in  the  divine  punish- 
ment. Bodily  death  even,  the  last  earthly  punishment,  may 
often  become  a  means  of  grace.  The  certain  approach  of 
death,  as  well  as  the  uncertainty  of  the  time  when  it  may 
come,  are  strong  incentives  to  turn  from  things  temporal  to 
things  eternal.  In  many  afflictions  that  come  upon  us,  it  is 
not  possible  to  determine  objectively,  how  far  they  repre- 
sent punishment  or  how  far  the  educational  wisdom  of  a 
loving  parent  is  manifested.  (Compare  the  different  pro- 
portion of  chastisement  prompted  by  love  and  a  simple 
punitive  justice,  in  the  three  relations:  of  parent  and  child, 
master  and  servant,  judge  and  criminal). 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


95 


4.  Future  Punishment. 
The  last  punishment  for  sin,  which  the  Bible  calls 
"second  death"  (Rev.  20 :14)  and  "everlasting  punish- 
ment," is  reserved  for  those  who  are  unsusceptible  to  the 
correction  of  earthly  chastisement.  When  through  con- 
tinued impenitence  the  sinner  renders  himself  unable  to 
repent  and  to  be  saved,  when,  consequently,  divine  love 
finds  no  room  any  more  to  reveal  itself,  then  penal  justice 
alone  comes  into  action  Which  delivers  the  sinner  to  de- 
struction. This  is  the  future  punishment,  described  nega- 
tively as  a  state  of  everlasting  banishment  from  the 
presence  of  God,  involving  the  complete  loss  of  true  life  and 
happiness  and  positively  in  the  suffering  of  hell-fire  or 
the  punishment  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  See 
Eschatology,  Part  Sixth. 


part  Gbiro— Christ,  tbe  Saviour. 


Chapteb  XIX.    The  Plan  of  Salvation. 

1.  Salvation  Possible. 

Fallen  man  burdened  with  the  guilt  of  sin  and  con- 
trolled by  the  power  of  sin,  is  utterly  unable  to  save  him- 
self from  his  sinful  state  or  to  restore  himself  to  the  lost 
communion  with  God.  If  he  is  to  be  saved  and  restored, 
help  must  come  from  above.  John  3  :3,  6,  "Except  a  man 
be  born  anew  (or  from  above),  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God.  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  and  that 
which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit." 

However,  there  remains  the  possibility  of  salvation  as 
long  as  the  sinner  still  bears  the  image  of  God,  though 
greatly  defaced,  and  as  long  as  he  is  not  wholly  identified 
with  sin.  If  the  fallen  angels  cannot  be  restored  to  their 
original  state,  it  must  be,  because  their  apostacy  was  alto- 
gether a  personal  and  final  act.  With  fallen  man  the  case 
is  different.  Though  God  cannot  love  the  sinner  in  his  sin, 
he  can  have  compassion  upon  his  creature  oppressed  by  the 
power  of  sin  and  unable  to  help  himself.  The  unchanging 
love  of  God,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  partial  ignorance 
and  lack  of  evil  intention  in  man's  fall,  on  the  other  hand — 
constitute  the  ground  on  Which  the  possibility  of  human  re- 
demption rests.  The  natural  discord  in  the  sinner's  heart 
between  the  attractions  of  sin  and  the  demands  of  con- 
science, proves  that  sin  is  man's  second  nature  only,  not  his 
truest  essence.  Man  still  has  the  capacity  for  being  saved, 
because  he  is  neither  beast  nor  devil,  but  man. 

2.  God's  Gracious  Purpose. 
Holy  Scripture  teaches  that  the  salvation  of  mankind  has 
been  accomplished  and  that  the  redemption  of  the  sinner 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  97 

rests  on  an  eternal  purpose  of  God  which  "he  purposed  in 
Christ  Jesus  before  the  foundation  of  the  world"  (Eph. 
1:4  and  3:11),  and  accomplished  in  the  fulness  of  time. 
This  is  what  we  call  the  plan  of  salvation.  As  the  world 
was  created  by  the  Father  through  the  Son  of  God,  so  pro- 
vision for  the  redemption  of  the  world  was  made  through 
the  only  begotten  Son.  Both  Peter  and  Paul  declare  that 
this  Saviour  was  "foreknown  indeed  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world"  (I  Peter  1:20)  and  that  the  "purpose  and 
grace  of  God  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  times 
eternal,  but  manifested  by  the  appearing  of  our  Saviour 
Christ  Jesus"  (II  Tim.  1:9).  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  par- 
ticular, emphasizes  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  granting  this 
highest  benefit  to  mankind,  without  respect  to  any  merit 
or  virtue  of  man,  declaring  that  the  salvation  of  the  sinner 
is  in  no  sense  due  to  his  own  efforts  but  is  solely  the  work  of 
divine  grace.  Incidentally,  in  Rom.  9  :22,  the  same  apostle 
also  speaks  of  "vessels  of  wrath  fitted  unto  destruction," 
and  Peter  similarly  of  some  who  "stumble  at  the  word, 
being  disobedient,  whereunto  also  they  were  appointed" 
(I  Pet.  2:8). 

These  declarations  have  called  forth  many  questions  and 
controversies  as  to  the  extent  of  this  divine  salvation  and 
its  bearing  upon  the  free  will  of  man,  such  as:  Is  the  re- 
demption provided  in  the  plan  of  salvation  limited  or  is  it 
universal?  Did  God  predestinate  some  men  unto  salvation 
and  others  unto  perdition  irrespective  of  their  personal  wish 
or  worthiness?  Is  there  a  decree  of  reprobation  as  well  as 
an  election  of  grace? 

3.   Theories  of  Predestination. 

The  principal  theories  that  have  been  advanced  with 
regard  to  the  plan  of  salvation  and  its  results  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

a.  Supralapsarianixm,  the  theory,   that   God  before  the 
7 


9S 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


foundation  of  the  world  selected  from  men  to  be  created  a 
certain  number  to  be  recipients  of  divine  mercy  and  others 
to  be  "vessels  of  wrath,"  irrespective  of  the  fall  of  Adam 
("supra  lapsum")  and  the  spiritual  condition  of  man. 

b.  Sublapsarianism  (Augustine,  Calvin,  Luther  (?)).  God 
first  decreed  to  permit  the  fall  and  then  on  the  strength  of 
his  foreknowledge  elected  from  the  mass  of  fallen  men  (in 
prospect)  a  certain  number  to  be  saved,  while  he  left  the 
rest  to  their  fate.  The  Son  of  God  came  to  save  the  elect 
and  died  for  them.  The  others  suffer  the  consequences  of 
their  sins. 

c.  Conditional  Redemption  (Saumur,  1596-1664)  .  This 
theory  holds  that  God,  indeed,  sent  his  son  to  die  for  all  and 
thus  provided  a  universal  salvation.  But  the  sinner  cannot 
believe  in  the  Saviour  without  divine  help,  without  the 
effective  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  him.  This 
power  to  receive  and  to  enjoy  the  objective  redemption  is 
given  to  some;  the  others  perish  because  they  do  not  believe. 

d.  Resistance  Theory.  Salvation  is  provided  for  all  men 
as  an  act  of  free  grace,  which  is  independent  of  the  will  of 
man.  But  this  grace  of  God  may  be  resisted  and  such  re- 
sistance on  the  part  of  some  is  the  reason  why  they  are  not 
predestinated  unto  salvation.  God  foreknew,  who  would  accept 
and  who  would  resist. 

e.  Arminian  Theory.  (Arminius  of  Leyden,  Holland, 
1560-1609).  Redemption  is  not  only  prepared  for  all  men 
equally,  but  it  rests  altogether  with  man  whether  he  will 
accept  or  reject  it.  Those  who  of  their  own  free  choice  re- 
pent and  believe  are  saved  and  those  who  do  not,  are  lost. 
Men,  therefore,  are  predestinated  unto  life  or  condemnation  in 
so  far  as  they  predestinate  themselves,  by  their  own  will  and 
act. 

4.  Arguments  for  and  against  Unconditional  Predestination. 

Most  of  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation  have  included 
the  doctrine  of  predestination  among  the  articles  of  their 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


90 


Church  Creed,  generally  choosing  between  the  strict  Cal- 
vinistic  and  the  Resistance  theory. 

a.  In  favor  of  an  unconditional  predestination,  the  fol- 
lowing arguments  are  urged :  I :  The  theory  is  consistent 
in  that  it  allows  no  conflicts  in  the  divine  mind.  If  it  is 
certain  that  some  are  saved,  while  others  perish,  God  must 
have  so  decreed  it;  else  he  would  not  be  sovereign  in  power. 
He  wills  whatever  he  permits.  II.  It  is  a  fact  that,  in  re- 
gard to  temporal  affairs,  men  are  placed  by  the  hand  of 
God  in  the  most  different  conditions  of  happiness.  In  the 
matter  of  our  eternal  destiny  his  will,  likewise,  must  be 
decisive.  III.  Paul  in  Rom.  9  :11  and  13  expressly  states, 
that  God  chose  Jacob  and  rejected  Esau,  before  either  of 
them  could  do  any  good  or  evil,  "that  the  purpose  of  God 
according  to  election  might  stand." 

b.  Against  an  unconditional  predestination  note  the  fol- 
lowing considerations :  I.  It  is  incompatible  with  the  love 
and  justice  of  God,  which  demands  that  all  be  saved  who 
possibly  can  be  saved.  How,  otherwise,  would  the  love  of 
God  be  manifested  to  a  sinner  who  is  predestined  to  per- 
dition? II.  If  God  elected  men  for  salvation  by  a  sovereign 
act  of  volition,  why  was  it  necessary  for  his  son  to  die  for 
man?  Or  why  should  the  Saviour  pay  the  penalty  of  sin 
for  the  elect,  with  so  much  suffering,  if  they  can  be  saved 
by  a  simple  decree  of  absolute  predestination?  III.  If  some 
men  cannot  possibly  be  saved,  because  they  are  not  pre- 
destined, how  shall  they  feel  any  responsibility  for  a  condi- 
tion which  they  cannot  change?  How  can  any  one  feel 
guilty  of  deserving  eternal  punishment,  simply  because  he 
is  not  "elect"?  IV.  The  general  testimony  of  Scripture  is 
overwhelmingly  against  a  particularistic  view.  We  are 
taught  that  God  "willeth  that  all  men  should  be  saved"  (I 
Tim.  2:4)  and  that  Christ  is  "the  propitiation  for  our  sins 
and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  whole  world"  (I 
John  2:2);  that  it  is  the  sinner's  fault  alone,  if  God's  pur- 


100 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


pose  is  not  fulfilled  in  him  (Matth.  23  :37)  and  that,  at  the 
last  judgment,  the  ungodly  go  away  into  the  eternal  fire 
which  is  prepared,  not  for  them,  but  for  the  devil  (Matth. 
25:41). 

5.  Conclusion. 

Predestination,  certainly,  is  a  mystery  in  regard  to  which 
official  teaching  should  confine  itself  to  the  plain  statements 
of  Scripture.  For  a  comparison  of  these  and  for  the  further 
harmonizing  of  apparently  contradictory  declarations,  the 
following  may  yet  be  noticed : 

a.  The  parallel  testimony  of  Scripture.  Both  in  the  Old 
and  in  the  New  Testament  we  find  the  two  representations: 
deterministic  and  undeterministic,  absolute  and  conditional 
predestination,  closely  grouped  together,  e.g.,  Ex.  3  :19 — 7 :3, 
Isaiah  1:19,  20—6:9,  10,  John  12:43—12:39,  John  6:67— 
6:65,  Acts  10:35—13:48,  Rom.  2:6—8:30,  Phil.  2:12—2:13, 
1  John  2:28—2:19. 

In  the  passage  of  Rom.  9  :11 — 20,  which  is  generally  quoted 
as  the  decisive  Scripture  statement  of  an  absolutely  uncon- 
ditional predestination,  the  apostle  makes  no  reference  at 
all  to  individual  salvation,  but  to  God's  dealings  with  nations 
and  his  purpose  is  to  meet  the  claim  of  self-righteous  Jews, 
that  their  prerogatives  must  be  regarded.  In  the  predestina- 
tion passage  of  Rom.  8  :29,  Paul  begins  his  declaration  with 
the  words:  "Whom  he  foreknew,  he  also  foreordained."  This 
implies  some  willingness  on  the  part  of  man  to  be  saved  as 
an  element  in  the  foreordaining  and  recognizes  the  moral 
responsibility  of  man  as  well  as  the  divine  sovereignty. 

b.  Predestination  not  limited  by  our  conception  of  time. 
May  we  not  profitably,  in  the  attempt  to  harmonize  eternal 
predestination  with  tbe  exercise  of  a  free  will,  refer  to  the 
divine  transcendence  of  our  conceptions  of  time.  If  to  God 
all  time  is  an  eternal  present,  predestination  before  time 
began,  means,  independent  of  human  time.  Thus  the  opera- 
tion of  saving  grace  which,  from  the  standpoint  of  eternity, 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  101 

is  absolute,  becomes  conditioned  by  the  human  will,  when 
it  enters  the  human  sphere  and  relation. 

c.  The  practical  aspect.  Whether  or  not  we  succeed  in 
finding  a  place  for  the  human  will  within  the  divine  pre- 
destination, it  must  be  evident  to  a  student  of  the  Bible, 
that  the  teaching  of  this  doctrine  was  not  intended  to  furnish 
a  fruitful  topic  for  controversy.  Wherever  it  is  referred 
to  in  Scripture,  it  is  done  with  the  practical  purpose  of 
strengthening  God's  people  and  of  comforting  them  in  the 
trials  of  life.  Paul  found  no  difficulty  in  teaching:  "Work 
out  your  own  salvation  Avith  fear  and  trembling:  for  it  is 
God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his 
good  pleasure"  (Phil.  2:12,  13)  and  Peter  wrote:  "Give  the 
more  diligence  to  make  your  calling  and  election  sure"  (II 
Pet.  1:10).  Man  may  become  certain  of  his  being  predes- 
tinated by  the  evidences  of  divine  grace  around  him  and 
within  him.  The  Christian  who  understands  his  helplessness 
apart  from  God  and  Christ,  and  his  absolute  safety  and 
strength,  as  built  upon  the  divine  election  of  grace,  has 
courage,  cheerfulness  and  power  for  work,  knowing  that  he 
"who  began  the  good  work  in  them,  will  perfect  it." 


Chapter  XX.    The  Time  of  Preparation. 

1.  Two  Covenants. 
While  the  divine  plan  of  salvation  made  the  objective 
provision  for  the  redemption  of  fallen  man,  the  latter  in 
turn  had  to  be  prepared  for  this  salvation.  Accordingly, 
the  history  of  mankind,  from  the  time  of  the  fall  to  the 
coming  of  the  Saviour,  was  providentially  arranged  to 
prepare  the  way  for  redemption.  Fallen  man  was  excluded 
from  communion  with  God  for  two  reasons:  first,  because  he 
is  defiled  by  sin  and  unable  to  do  the  will  of  God;  and 
second,  because  he  has  offended  against  the  holiness  of  God 
by  his  disobedience.    Two  things,  therefore,  were  required, 


102 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


in  order  to  restore  the  sinner  to  his  lost  relation,  viz.,  satis- 
faction for  the  sins  committed,  resulting  in  absolution  from 
guilt;  and  a  regeneration  or  renewal  of  the  sinner's  hear; 
and  life. 

To  accomplish  this  twofold  end  was  the  object  of  God's 
gracious  dealing  with  sinful  humanity.  And  here  Holy 
Scripture  speaks  of  two  covenants  or  compacts  made  suc- 
cessively for  this  purpose,  between  God  and  man. 

a.  The  Covenant  of  Works,  made  first  with  mankind  in 
general  and  then  with  Israel  in  particular,  through  the 
Mosaic  Law.  The  compact  was  this:  Put  away  sin,  make 
atonement  for  the  past  and  turn  to  God  with  your  whole 
heart,  and  he  will  be  your  God  and  you  shall  be  his  people. 
Men  were  asked  to  make  satisfaction  for  past  wrong  doings, 
to  abstain  from  evil  and  to  do  what  is  right  before  the  Lord. 
If  so,  God  would  be  gracious  to  them  and  bless  them.  The 
attempt  was  made  to  live  up  to  this  compact,  by  bringing 
sacrifices  for  sin,  as  well  as  thank  offerings  and  burnt  offer- 
ings to  show  their  devotion  and  consecration,  and  by  an 
earnest  endeavor  to  keep  the  law  of  God.  But  it  was  found 
that  man  was  unable  to  fulfill  the  requirements  of  this 
covenant.  He  could  neither  make  proper  satisfaction  for 
sins  committed  nor  live  a  holy  life. 

b.  The  Covenant  of  Grace.  Moved  with  compassion  for 
his  fallen  creatures,  God  offered  another  covenant,  the 
covenant  of  grace.  It  stipulated  that  a  mediator  between 
God  and  man  should  be  found,  who  would  do  and  suffer 
■whatever  was  necessary  to  bring  absolution  from  guilt  and 
»vho  would  regenerate  the  sinner  by  the  divine  Spirit.  Thus, 
what  man  could  not  attain  by  his  own  effort,  viz.,  forgive- 
ness of  sin  and  righteousness  of  life,  would  be  provided 
and  bestowed  as  a  free  gift.  The  only  condition  of  the  new 
covenant  was  faith  in  the  Mediator,  a  faith  which  would  be 
counted  for  righteousness,  because  it  would  reunite  the  sinner 
with  his  God. 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


103 


The  working  of  these  two  covenants  is  not  strictly  suc- 
cessive, but  often  simultaneous.  While,  in  general,  the  time 
between  Adam  and  Christ  was  the  time  of  the  old  covenant 
of  works,  enough  of  the  new  covenant  was  anticipated  to 
encourage  men  in  their  striving  after  salvation. 

2.  Preparation  of  the  Gentiles. 
Immediately  after  the  fall,  (so  we  are  told  in  Gen.  3  :15,) 
God  gave  the  promise  of  a  future  restoration,  by  the 
"woman's  seed  bruising  the  head  of  the  serpent."  But  four 
thousand  years,  or  more,  passed  before  this  was  accom- 
plished, the  object  of  the  long  delay  being,  apparently,  to 
allow  sufficient  time  for  man's  attempt  to  reform  his  life  and 
to  atone  for  his  sin,  until  it  was  fully  proven  that  this 
endeavor  to  redeem  himself  was  fruitless.  At  the  same 
time  the  human  race  was  given  every  opportunity  to  un- 
fold and  improve  the  powers  and  faculties  of  soul  and  body, 
with  which  it  was  endowed.  The  Lord  God,  like  a  wise 
Father,  adapted  the  mental  and  moral  training  of  man  to 
the  needs  of  the  different  epochs  of  history,  the  needs  both 
of  nations  and  individuals.  He  raised  up  among  them 
leaders  of  the  people,  kings  and  priests,  prophets  and  poets, 
through  whom  he  directed  their  course,  overruled  their  en- 
deavors and  led  them  onward  in  their  appointed  ways  of 
development.  lie  did,  indeed,  "suffer  all  the  nations  to  walk 
in  their  own  ways;  and  yet  he  left  not  himself  without 
witness"  (Acts  14:16).  They  became  idolaters,  worshipping 
the  creature  in  place  of  the  Creator,  stars,  plants,  animals, 
fellow  men  or  evil  spirits.  And  they  "received  in  themselves 
that  recompense  of  their  error  which  was  due"  (Rom.  1 :27). 
They  fell  into  many  sins  and  abominable  vices,  and  reaped 
the  wages  of  their  apostacy  in  physical  suffering,  disgrace 
and  death. 

Yet  the  Gentile  world,  also,  had  its  seasons  of  refreshing 
and  of  temporal  and  spiritual  prosperity.  There  were  times, 
when  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God  touched  the  hearts  of 


104 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


men  with,  a  sense  of  gratitude,  or  when  the  divine  judgment 
against  evil  caused  them  to  turn  away  from  sinful  ways 
(compare  Jonah  at  Nineveh).  The  history  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Romans,  as  well  as  of  Egypt  and  Babylon,  shows 
plainly,  especially  during  certain  periods,  how  large  a  part 
of  their  life  was  given  to  religious  exercises,  to  prayer  and 
offering  of  sacrifices,  as  St.  Paul  declared  to  the  Athenians : 
"In  all  things  I  perceive  that  ye  are  very  religious"  (Acts 
17:22).  The  Gentiles  offered  sin  offerings,  as  well  as  thank 
offerings,  acknowledging  both  the  need  of  atonement  and 
the  obligation  to  consecrate  their  property  and  their  time 
to  God.  Finally,  they  were  all  taught  to  understand  and 
to  feel,  more  or  less  clearly,  the  need  of  a  new  divine  revela- 
tion for  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

3.  Preparation  of  Israel. 
What  in  the  case  of  the  Gentiles  appears  to  be  rather  a 
groping  in  the  dark,  with  the  light  of  a  few  scattered  stars, 
was  a  clear  leading  of  Jehovah  in  the  case  of  Abraham  and 
his  descendants.  The  people  of  Israel  were  not.  so  much  in 
advance  of  the  Gentiles  by  superiority  in  art,  culture  or 
political  achievements.  Their  special  mission  and  strength 
lay  in  the  sphere  of  religion,  to  be  a  witness  of  revealed  truth, 
both  as  to  human  sinfulness  and  divine  deliverance,  and  we 
can  trace  a  progressive  manifestation  of  the  divine  plan  of 
salvation. 

a.  Patriarchial  Period.  The  history  of  Israel  began  with 
the  special  call  extended  to  the  man  Abram  of  Ur  in  Chaldea : 
"Get  thee  out  of  thy  country"  and  the  promise  "In  thee 
shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed"  (Gen.  12  :3).  For 
a  season,  the  covenant  of  works  was  set  aside  so  far  as 
Abraham  and  his  family  were  concerned.  The  Lord  God, 
overlooking  the  barrier  of  sin  which  separated  Him  from 
the  children  of  men,  established  with  Abraham  and  his  seed 
the  covenant  of  grace,  in  the  promise  of  free  salvation,  and 
the  faith  of  Abraham  was  "counted  to  him  for  righteous- 


PAET  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  105 

ness"  (Gen.  15:6).  The  ram  was  substituted  for  the  sacrifice 
of  Isaac. 

b.  Mosaic  Period.  But  after  the  promise  came  the  law. 
God's  holy  will  had  to  be  made  known  to  the  children  of 
Israel,  in  rites  and  ordinances  that  were  suited  to  their 
understanding.  The  law  of  Moses  was  a  specialization  of 
the  covenant  of  works.  It  served  several  purposes.  It 
separated  the  sons  of  Israel  from  the  Gentiles  and  from 
their  abominations  and  was  a  check  against  any  gross  out- 
burst of  sin.  It  brought  a  knowledge  of  sin  and  of  the  in- 
ability of  the  sinner  to  extricate  himself  from  the  power 
and  guilt  of  sin,  showing  the  hopelessness  of  man's  finding 
salvation  by  the  works  of  the  law.  It  also  served  as  a  "tutor 
(schoolmaster)  to  bring  men  to  Christ"  in  positive  prepara- 
tion for  salvation  by  its  sacrifices,  rites  and  symbols 
of  atonement  and  purification.  Note,  particularly,  the  sin- 
offering  and  the  burnt-offering,  the  annual  celebration  of 
the  pass-over  and  of  the  "day  of  atonement." 

c.  Prophetic  Period.  The  relation  between  the  two  cove- 
nants and  the  meaning  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  were 
further  explained  by  the  prophets.  These  combined  the  two 
instrumentalities  for  the  preparation  of  Israel,  the  promise 
and  the  law,  in  showing  the  gracious  purpose  of  God  both 
in  blessings  and  in  judgments  and  endeavored  to  lead  their 
people  to  a  deep  conviction  of  sin,  a  true  longing  for  deliv- 
erance and  a  firm  trust  in  God's  gracious  promises. 

4.  The  Promise  of  Messiah. 
The  hope  and  the  promise  of  a  future  redemption,  as  ex- 
pressed by  the  prophets  of  Israel,  gradually  found  its  center 
in  the  expectation  of  the  coming  of  Messiah,  the  "anointed" 
ruler  who  would  come  to  judge  the  heathen  and  to  save 
his  people.  King  David  personally  received  the  promise  of 
an  everlasting  kingdom,  for  himself  and  his  descendants 
(II  Sam.  7:13,  16).  To  this  promise,  perhaps,  the  origin 
of  the  idea  of  the  Messiah  may  be  traced.    But  each  of  the 


106 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


prophets  whose  writings  have  been  handed  down  to  us  in 
the  Old  Testament  Canon  seems  to  have  added  some  promi- 
nent feature  to  this  ideal  of  Israel's  hope.  Jonah,  in  the 
order  of  time  apparently  the  oldest  of  these  prophets,  can 
be  regarded  as  a  personal  type  of  the  work  to  be  accom- 
plished by  the  Messiah,  and  Joel's  prophecy  refers  to  the 
expected  future  salvation,  without  as  yet  mentioning  the 
author  of  this  salvation  (Joel  2:28-33).  Amos  first  sees  the 
house  of  David  again  flourish  in  the  latter  days  (Amos 
9:11,  14),  while  Hosea  foretells  the  reunion  of  the  divided 
kingdoms  of  Ephraim  and  Judah  under  a  Davidish  king 
(Hos.  3:4,  5). 

Midway  between  the  time  of  Moses  and  the  coming  of 
Christ,  (about  B.  C.  720,)  a  clearer  vision  arises  before  the 
prophetic  eye  of  Micah  and  Isaiah.  In  Micah  5  :l-4  Bethle- 
hem Ephratah  is  mentioned  as  the  prospective  birthplace 
of  the  Messiah ;  in  Isaiah  7  :14  his  birth  of  the  virgin  and 
the  name  Immanuel  ("God  with  us")  ;  9  :l-6,  his  appear- 
ance in  Galilee,  and  11:1-10,  his  divine  attributes  and 
peaceful  reign.  All  these  prophecies  speak  of  the  glory  of 
the  Messiah  without  as  yet  indicating  any  struggle  or  conflict 
that  must  precede  his  exaltation. 

The  latter  is  first  pointed  out  in  the  second  part  of  Isaiah 
(chp.  53),  in  the  "servant  of  Jehovah,"  who  goes  through 
the  dark  valley  of  suffering  and  death,  before  he  reaches 
the  height  of  glory.  Jeremiah  confirms  the  predictions  of 
the  earlier  prophets  and  proclaims :  "Behold  the  days  come, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous 
Branch  (Zemach)  and  a  king  shall  reign... and  this  is  his 
name  whereby  he  shall  be  called,  the  Lord  our  Righteousness" 
(Jerem.  23:5,  6).  He  also  announces  a  new  covenant  as 
the  result  of  Messiah's  coming,  namely,  God's  law  written  in 
the  hearts  of  men,  their  sins  forgiven,  and  "I  will  be  their 
God  and  they  shall  be  my  people"  (Jerem.  31:33).  EzeTciel 
represents  the  bringer  of  salvation  under  the  name  of  a  good 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


107 


shepherd,  who,  as  a  second  David,  will  rule  his  people  after 
risking  his  life  to  save  the  scattered  sheep  of  his  flock.  He 
also  sees  a  new  temple  built  by  him  and  a  stream  of  life- 
giving  water  gushing  forth  from  beneath  that  temple  (Ezek. 
34:23  and  47:1-12). 

After  the  Babylonish  exile,  Daniel  speaks  of  a  "Son  of 
Man"  as  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  to  whom  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom  is  given  (7:13,  14)  and  the  ninth  chapter 
of  Daniel  seems  to  predict  the  time  when  "Messiah  the 
Prince"  shall  appear  (9:24-27).  Zechariah  more  plainly 
describes  the  expected  Saviour  as  one  who  will  combine  the 
office  of  king  with  that  of  high  priest  in  his  person  (Zech. 
6:12,  13  and  9:9).  Haggai  predicts,  that  the  glory  of  the 
second  temple  shall  be  greater  than  the  first,  because  "the 
desire  of  all  nations  shall  come"  (2:7)  and  Malachi  an- 
nounces a  forerunner  of  the  Messiah,  a  second  Elijah  who 
will  herald  his  appearance  (Mai.  4:5).  John  the  Baptist, 
the  last  of  the  prophets  and  the  promised  herald,  personally 
introduced  Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  his  twofold  capacity,  as 
the  mighty  Lord,  "the  latchet  of  whose  shoe  he  was  not 
worthy  to  unloose"  and  as  "the  Lamb  of  God  which  bearetb 
the  sin  of  the  world"  (John  1:27,  29). 

In  regard  to  all  these  and  other  predictions  and  anticipa- 
tions of  the  future  salvation,  it  should  be  understood  that 
there  are  various  kinds  of  messianic  prophecies  found  in  the 
Old  Testament. 

a.  Sometimes  God  made  use  of  a  certain  event  occurring 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  history  to  foreshadow  the  promised 
deliverance,  as  in  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  the  pass-over  and  the 
exodus  from  Egypt. 

b.  Again,  individual  men  in  their  personal  character  or 
official  capacity  typified  some  feature  of  the  work  of  the 
coming  Saviour,  as  Melchizedek,  Joshua,  David,  Solomon 
and  Jonah. 

c.  Frequently  a  prophet  uttered  words  which  primarily 


108 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTEINB. 


referred  to  an  event  happening  in  his  own  time  hut  which 
found  a  higher  and  more  perfect  fulfilment  in  the  person 
and  mission  of  the  Messiah,  as  Isaiah  7  :14,  Psalms  2  and  22. 

d.  There  are,  however,  some  verbal  prophecies  which  seem 
to  have  exclusive  reference  to  the  Messiah,  even  though  the 
prophets  who  uttered  them  may  not  have  grasped  their  full 
meaning  (I  Pet.  1:10,  11). 

5.   The  Fullness  of  Time. 

Salvation  and  the  Saviour  came,  when  according  to  the 
counsel  of  God  the  preparation  of  humanity  for  the  promised 
redemption  was  completed,  as  Paul  expresses  it :  "In  the 
fullness  of  time"  (Gal.  4:4).  Both  Judaism  and  Paganism 
had  proved  unable  to  save  mankind  without  a  divine  inter- 
position, and  the  need  of  a  new  revelation  was  manifest. 
The  prevailing  moral  and  religious  condition  was  one  of 
degeneracy  and  doubt.  Pilate's  question:  "What  is  truth?" 
in  one  or  the  other  form,  echoed  the  general  sentiment  of  the 
Gentile  world. 

On  the  other  hand,  both  Jew  and  Gentile  were  ready  for 
the  coming  of  the  Saviour.  The  Gospels  tell  us  of  a  general 
expectation  of  the  Messiah  among  the  Jews,  so  that  the 
wise  men  from  the  East  could  at  once  be  directed  to  go  to 
Bethlehem  as  the  place  where  the  Christ  should  be  born. 
Jewish  influence,  through  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  (the  Septuagint)  and  the  building  of  synagogues 
in  every  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  had  spread  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  law  and  the  promise  of  Israel.  The  subjection 
of  a  large  part  of  the  then  known  world  to  Rome  had  broken 
down  the  partition  walls  which  separated  the  nations  and 
the  general  introduction  of  the  Greek  language  was  most 
serviceable  for  the  diffusion  of  the  news  of  salvation.  A 
wonderful  unification  of  the  world  had  been  accomplished, 
when  the  "decree  went  out  from  Caesar  Augustus  that  all 
the  world  should  be  enrolled"  (Luke  2  :1).   Paul  and  Apollos 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST.  THE  SAVIOUR. 


109 


were  Jews  by  faith,  Greeks  by  culture  and  Komans  by  citizen- 
ship. 

Chapter  XXI.    The  Person  of  Christ. 

1.  Jesus  the  Messiah  (Christ). 

The  prevailing  idea  among  the  Jews  was  that  the  Messiah, 
or  as  the  Greek  speaking  Hebrews  called  him,  the  Christ 
(Christos — "anointed''),  would  be  a  king  like  David  or  Solo- 
mon, who  would  make  Jerusalem  the  capital  of  his  kingdom, 
bring  judgment  upon  the  Gentiles  and  sinners,  and  give  to 
his  people  the  dominion  over  the  earth.  He  would  be  born 
of  the  family  of  David,  perform  great  miracles,  introduce 
new  religious  rites,  such  as  baptism,  and  he  would  never  die 
(John  7:31;  1-25;  12:34).  Some,  but  their  number  was 
not  large,  expected  a  redeemer  from  sin,  a  teacher  of  right- 
eousness and  a  restorer  of  true  worship  (John  4:25;  Luke 
1:74:  2:30-32).  Some,  like  the  Jewish  philosopher  Philo 
and  the  Sadducees,  rejected  the  hope  of  a  Messiah  as  a 
popular  superstition. 

We  know  that  the  four  Gospels  were  written  for  the  pur- 
pose of  proving  that  the  confession  of  the  earlv  Christians 
was  true,  viz.,  that  Jesus  of  Xazareth  is  the  Christ,  the 
promised  Messiah  of  Israel  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
The  fourth  Gospel  expressly  states  this  to  be  the  object  of 
writing,  "that  ye  may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God"  (John  20:31).  The  Evangelists  show  us  how 
all  the  prominent  features  of  the  person  and  work  of  the 
Messiah,  as  foreshadowed  in  the  Old  Testament  prophecies, 
were  found  in  Jesus  of  Xazareth.  His  name,  Jesus 
(Jeshua),  meant  Saviour.  He  was  born  at  Bethlehem  of 
the  family  of  David,  announced  by  angelic  voices  as  "the 
Saviour  who  is  Christ,  the  Lord"  and  heralded  by  John  the 
Baptist,  as  Malachi  had  foretold.  His  disciples  declared 
him  to  be  the  one  "of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the 
prophets  did  write"  (John  1 :45),  "the  Christ,  the  Son  of 


110 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


the  living  God"  (Matth.  16:16).  He  himself  accepted  this 
title  and  confirmed  it  under  oath,  when  asked :  "Art  thou  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Blessed?"  by  answering,  "I  am;  and 
ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of 
power  and  coming  with  the  clouds  of  heaven"  (Mark 
14:61,  62). 

He  proved  his  name  and  mission  by  the  miracles  which 
he  performed,  by  the  pure  and  sinless  life  which  he  lived 
and  by  the  exalted  and  precious  doctrines  which  he  taught. 
He  proclaimed  a  new  law  and  a  new  revelation  of  God 
the  Father,  through  his  Son,  the  mediator.  But  "he  was 
despised  and  rejected  of  men;... he  was  wounded  for  our 
transgressions  and  the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of 
us  all;... he  was  brought  as  a  Lamb  to  the  slaughter," 
exactly  as  the  prophets  had  foretold  (Isa.  53:5-7).  There- 
fore we  believe  that  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  there  was  also 
fulfilled  the  messianic  promise,  "that  he  shall  see  of  the 
travail  of  his  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied ..  .because  he  hath 
poured  out  his  soul  unto  death  and  bare  the  sin  of  many" 
(Isa.  53:11,  12),  and  that  other  word:  "The  Lord  said  unto 
my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,  until  I  make  thy  foes 
thy  footstool"  (Ps.  110:1). 

2.  The  Son  of  Man. 

Jesus  Christ  spoke  of  himself  frequently  as  "the  Son  of 
Man."  While  the  use  of  that  title  has  a  special  reference 
to  the  prophecy  in  Dan.  7 :13  and  to  the  Son  of  Man  to 
whom  was  given  dominion  and  an  everlasting  kingdom,  it 
applies  to  Christ  as  well  in  its  broadest  meaning.  He  was  a 
true  man,  not  merely  in  outward  form  but  in  all  things,  sin 
only  excepted  (Hebr.  4:15).  Peter  speaks  of  him  as  a  man 
ordained  of  God  (Acts  2  :22-24),  and  Paul  as  the  man  Christ 
Jesus  (I  Tim.  2:5),  and  the  second  Adam  (I  Cor.  15:45). 
He  had  a  material  body  of  flesh  and  blood  which  passed 
through  the  ordinary  stages  of  human  growth  from  infancy 
to  manhood  and  manifested   the   ordinary  human  wants; 


PART  THIRD— CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


Ill 


sleep,  hunger  and  thirst.  He  likewise  had  a  human  soul, 
subject  to  the  laws  of  earthly  development.  He  learned  and 
acquired  wisdom  (Luke  2  :52),  he  had  a  finite  human  intellect 
which  was  limited  not  only  in  the  sphere  of  secular  knowl- 
edge but  even  with  regard  to  events  in  the  spiritual  world, 
such  as  the  hour  of  his  return  (Mark  13:32).  He  reasoned 
as  men  do ;  he  was  joyful  and  sorrowful.  He  prayed  to  God 
as  men  do  and  he  could  be  tempted.  "He  learned  obedience 
and  he  was  made  perfect  through  suffering."  Yet  he  was  a 
unique  man  in  his  moral  perfection  and  absolute  sinlessness 
and  he  was  the  "Son  of  Man"  in  the  sense  of  being  the  ideal 
man,  the  universal  or  representative  man,  the  second  Adam. 

3.  The  Son  of  God. 

But  Jesus  Christ  was  more  than  man,  more  than  the 
perfect  man ;  he  was  also  the  "Son  of  God."  In  the  Gospel 
account  of  the  earthly  ministry  of  Christ  we  find  that  desig- 
nation frequently  applied  to  him.  Luke  records  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  angel  to  the  virgin  Mary:  "The  power 
of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee:  therefore  the  holy 
thing  that  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of 
God"  (Luke  1:35),  and  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus  a  voice 
from  heaven  was  heard  saying,  "Thou  art  my  beloved  son" 
(Luke  3:22).  Mark  writes:  "The  beginning  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God"  (Mark  1:1).  John  says: 
"We  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of 
the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth"  (John  1:14). 
Nathanael,  when  first  meeting  him,  addresses  him  with, 
"Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  Peter,  in  the  name  of 
the  disciples,  confesses:  "We  believe  and  are  sure  that 
thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  and  Thomas, 
after  becoming  fully  convinced  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
calls  him  :  "My  Lord  and  my  God"  (John  1 :19  ;  6  :69  ;  20 :28). 

While,  undoubtely,  the  term  "Son  of  God"  was  used  by 
different  persons  and  at  different  times  with  more  or  less 
depth  of  meaning,  and  at  first,  probably,  altogether  as  an 


112 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


official  title  belonging  to  the  Messiah,  it  is  evident  that  the 
disciples  of  Christ  expressed  by  it  far  more  than  that  a  divine 
mission  and  work  was  being  accomplished  by  their  master. 
They  believed  him  to  be  a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature,  as 
John  expresses  it,  "the  Word  which  was  in  the  beginning 
with  God,  which  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  the 
only  begotten  Son  who  was  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father." 
And  Christ  himself  not  only  accepted  the  title  as  belonging 
to  him  and  the  worship  due  to  the  Son  of  God,  but  he  con- 
firmed the  claim  by  saying,  that  he  was  greater  than  Moses, 
Solomon  end  the  prophets,  the  revealer  of  the  Father  in 
heaven,  the  Saviour  and  the  Judge  of  men.  He  claimed  to 
have  come  down  from  heaven,  that  he  was  before  Abraham 
was  born  (John  8:58),  that  he  had  glory  with  the  Father, 
before  the  world  began  (John  17  :5)  and  that  he  had  power 
to  forgive  sin  (Matth.  9:6).  Finally  he  made  the  explicit 
declaration:  "I  and  my  Father  are  one"  (John  10:30).  It 
is  the  Apostle  John  who  has  recorded  the  most  striking  utter- 
ances of  Christ  respecting  his  divine  nature,  but  the  Apostle 
Paul,  also,  speaks  of  him  as  "the  image  of  the  invisible  God, 
the  first  bom  of  all  creation"  (Col.  1  :15)  and  declares  that 
"in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily" 
(Col.  2:9),  "who  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
power  by  the  resurrection  of  the  dead"  (Rom.  1:4). 

4.  Christ,  a  Divine-Human  Person. 
From  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  as  just  given,  the 
Christian  Church  has  derived  its  doctrine  of  Christ  as 
being  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  a  unique  personality  in 
which  God  and  man  were  united.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
one  person  with  the  Son  of  God  or  the  Word  of  God,  the 
Logos.  (John  1 :1).  It  was  not  a  mere  instilling  of  the  divine 
Spirit  into  a  human  being,  but  a  union  of  a  divine  and  human 
nature.  As  the  Ecumenical  Council,  held  at  Chalcedon, 
A.D.  451,  has  formulated  it:  "Jesus  Christ  is  truly  God 
and  truly  man,  of  a  rational  soul  and  a  body.  .  .  He  is  one 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


1 13 


and  the  same  Christ,  Son,  Lord,  only  begotten,  existing  in 
two  natures  without  mixture."  As  the  union  of  spirit  and 
body  constitute  man  a  personality,  so  the  union  of  the 
second  person  in  the  divine  Trinity  with  a  human  spirit  and 
body  constitute  the  personality  of  the  "God-man."  The 
Church  has  endeavored  to  further  define  the  relation  be- 
tween the  two  natures  in  the  following  three  propositions, 
which  have  been  generally  accepted  as  true : 

a.  The  divine  and  human  natures  in  Christ  are  not 
mixed,  so  as  to  produce  a  compound  nature.  The  finite 
cannot  become  infinite.  The  Son  of  God  was  not  changed 
into  a  human  being,  nor  did  the  man  Jesus  rise  to  the  state 
of  divinity.  Each  nature  retained  its  attributes.  Christ, 
had  a  finite  and  an  infinite  intelligence;  a  human  and  a 
divine  will.  The  human  intellect  increased  in  wisdom  and 
the  human  will  learned  obedience,  while  the  divine  nature 
ever  remained  infinitely  perfect. 

b.  Communion  of  attributes  and  acts.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  follows  from  the  union  of  two  natures  in  one  person,  that, 
whatever  can  be  predicated  of  either  nature,  can  be  affirmed 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  God-man,  as  a  personality.  (Com- 
municatio  Idiomatum.)  Thus  the  God-man  was  finite  and 
infinite,  limited  in  knowledge  and  omniscient,  lie  was  born 
at  Bethlehem  in  the  days  of  Herod  and  he  was  preexistent 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world.  But  it  was  the  divine 
nature  only  which  was  preexistent,  not  the  human ;  and  it 
was  the  man  Jesus  only  who  was  crucified,  not  the  God- 
head. So,  likewise,  the  two  natures  cooperate  in  the  acts  of 
Christ,  although  some  acts  of  his  are  purely  human,  such  as 
eating  and  sleeping,  and  some  are  purely  divine,  such  as 
raising  himself  from  the  dead.  However,  all  the  acts  of 
Christ  are  the  acts  of  one  personality.  When  his  human 
nature  suffered,  his  Godhead  added  an  infinite  value  to 
this  suffering.    Likewise  the  obedience  which  Christ  learned 

8 


114 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


belongs  to  the  human  nature,  yet  being  the  obedience  of  a 
divine-human  person  it  involves  infinite  value  for  the 
human  race. 

c.  Christ,  an  object  of  ivorship.  It  follows,  in  the  third 
place,  from  the  union  of  the  two  natures,  that  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  such  is  the  proper  object  of  religious 
worship.  Here  again,  it  is  not  his  human  nature  as 
such,  even  though  exalted  above  every  other  creature, 
which  is  the  ground  of  worship.  But  the  human  nature 
having  entered  into  a  permanent  union  with  the  divine  and 
thus  become  an  integral  part  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  man 
Jesus  Christ  is  an  object  of  worship ;  compare  Phil.  2  :10, 
"that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow." 

5.  Why  the  Saviour  must  be  Divine-Human. 

What  Scripture  teaches  with  regard  to  the  twofold 
nature  of  the  Saviour  is  in  many  respects  an  inscrutable 
mystery  to  our  limited  understanding.  Particularly  the 
relation  of  the  Son  of  God  or  the  divine  Word  (Logos)  to 
the  humanity  during  the  earthly  life  of  Christ  is  a  problem 
which  no  man  can  claim  to  have  properly  solved.  Paul  in 
Col.  2  :2  calls  it  "the  mystery  of  God,  even  Christ,  in  whom 
are  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  hidden." 
Nevertheless  this  union  of  God  and  man  is  in  full  accord 
with  rational  Christian  thinking.  The  justice  of  God  re- 
quires that  the  human  nature  which  had  sinned  must  also 
make  satisfaction  for  sin,  and  that  man  after  turning  away 
from  God  must,  through  this  Son  of  Man,  return  to  God. 
Therefore  the  Redeemer  must  be  a  man. 

But  human  nature  alone  could  not  do  this.  Neither  could 
an  angel,  by  assuming  human  nature,  take  the  place  of  man 
and  make  atonement.  But  the  Son  of  God,  through  whom, 
as  the  eternal  Word,  the  world  was  created  and  in  whose 
image  man  was  made,  he  could  make  his  abode  in  the  man 
Jesus  Christ  in  order  to  reunite  humanity  with  God  and 
infuse  his  own  holiness  into  the  human  nature  (II  Cor.  5  :19). 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


115 


Furthermore,  a  divine-human  Saviour  meets  the  needs  of 
humanity  also  subjectively,  in  that  man  needs  a  human  God 
to  whom  he  can  address  himself  with  full  confidence,  be- 
cause he  is  of  our  race,  knows  our  wants  and  has  perfect 
sympathy  with  our  weakness  (Heb.  2  :17,  18;  4:15,  16). 
6.  Theories  at  Variance  with  the  Orthodox  Creed. 
It  took  the  Christian  Church  nearly  four  centuries  to 
formulate  the  doctrine  concerning  the  person  of  Christ  in 
such  a  manner,  that  the  orthodox  creed  was,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  generally  accepted.  The  following  theories  of 
ancient  and  modern  times  are  at  variance  with  the  Bible 
doctrine  as  understood  by  the  Church : 

a.  Ebionitism.  The  Ebionites  were  a  judaizing  sect  of 
the  second  century  who  held  that  Christ  was  the  Son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,  distinguished  from  ordinary  men  only 
by  a  holy  life  and  the  endowment  of  divine  gifts.  They 
denied  the  deity  of  Christ,  the  same  as  many  Christians 
of  to-day. 

b.  Gnosticism.  The  Gnostics  denied  the  true  humanity 
of  the  Saviour,  claiming  that  Christ  had  no  real  body,  but 
only  a  phantom  body  so  that  his  crucifixion  was  but  a  scenic 
representation.  They  held  that  matter  is  equivalent  with 
evil  and  that  Christ  assumed  the  appearance  of  human 
flesh  in  order  to  deliver  man  from  material  existence. 

c.  Apollinarianism.  Apollinaris,  bishop  of  Laodicea, 
holding  to  a  trichotomistic  division  in  man,  of  body,  soul 
and  spirit,  taught  that  the  human  nature  of  Christ  con- 
sisted only  of  the  body  and  the  animal-soul,  but  that  the 
divine  Logos  (the  Son  of  God)  supplied  the  Spirit  or  reason 
of  Christ.  At  the  council  of  Constantinople,  A.D.  381,  this 
was  declared  an  error  and  unorthodox,  because  the  human 
nature  would  not  be  complete  without  a  human  spirit  and 
will.  Compare  John  6 :38,  "I  came  not  to  do  mine  own 
will"  and  13  :21,  "he  was  troubled  in  the  spirit." 

d.  Nestorianism.    Nestorius,  the  patriarch  of  Constanti- 


116 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


nople,  rightly  contended  that  the  Virgin  Mary  should  not 
be  called  the  "mother  of  God,"  as  many  divines  in  his  day 
already  began  to  call  her,  without  limitation.  For  the 
divine  nature  could  not  be  born.  But  the  followers  of 
Nestorius  carried  the  distinction  of  the  two  natures  in  the 
God-man  so  far  as  to  speak  of  two  personalities,  a  divine 
person  and  a  human  person.  A  synod  held  at  Ephesus, 
A.D.  431,  condemned  this  error  and  the  Nestorians  removed 
to  Persia,  where  they  founded  the  Nestorian  Church. 

e.  Eutychianism.  The  controversy  with  Nestorius  led 
some  of  his  opponents  to  another  extreme.  Eutychius,  a 
presbyter  of  Constantinople,  denied  the  co-existence  of  two 
natures  and  held  to  a  mingling  of  the  divine  and  human 
elements  in  one  nature.  His  followers  were  called  Mono- 
physites.  A  Council  at  Constantinople  declared  this  to  be  a 
heresy  and  a  subsequent  Synod  at  Ephesus  (A.D.  449) 
pronounced  it  orthodox.  After  the  death  of  Eutychius,  a 
new  Church  Council  at  Chalcedon  (A.D.  451)  reaffirmed 
the  Church  doctrine  of  one  person  and  two  natures,  but  the 
controversy  continued  long  and  vehement.  The  emperor 
Heraclius  proposed  a  compromise,  viz.,  "two  natures,  but 
one  will"  (Monotbelites)  ;  but  the  sixth  Ecumenical  Council 
of  Constantinople  (A.D.  681),  decided  with  overwhelming 
majority:  "two  natures  and  two  wills,  without  confusion." 
The  Maronites  of  Syria  still  hold  to  the  teaching  of 
Eutychius. 

/.  Socinianism.  Laelius  and  Faustus  Socinus,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  taught  that  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  was  unreasonable  and  that  the  "Son  of  God"  could 
not  have  existed  before  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  There- 
fore Christ  was  not  pre-existent,  not  God-man,  and  bad  no 
divine  nature,  but  after  his  death  and  resurrection  he  was 
raised  to  divine  honor.    (Unitarians  in  America.) 

g.  Swedenborgianism.  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  (1688-1772), 
a  mining  superintendent  and  believer  in  spiritualism,  was 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  117 

the  founder  of  the  so-called  New  Church,  which  interprets 
all  Scripture  spiritually  or  figuratively.  "Every  man  has 
a  material  and  a  spiritual  body.  In  like  manner  God  has  a 
spiritual  essence  and  a  bodily  form,  the  one  is  called  the 
Father,  the  other  the  Son.  The  Son  is  the  human  nature  in 
God  and  assumed  a  material  form  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  but 
this  material  form  was,  at  the  ascension,  absorbed  in  the 
spiritual  body  of  God"(  ?) 

Chapter  XXII.    The  State  of  Humiliation. 
1.  What  Constitutes  the  State  of  Humiliation. 

Although  the  redeeming  work  of  Christ,  the  Saviour, 
forms  an  unbroken  whole,  we  may  attempt  to  analyze  it 
by  dividing  it  into  a  number  of  successive  stages.  It  has 
been  customary  to  distinguish  a  twofold  "state"  in  which 
the  Lord  accomplished  his  work,  viz.,  the  state  of  humilia- 
tion and  the  state  of  exaltation.  The  Scripture  foundation 
for  this  distinction  is  found  in  Phil.  2  :6-ll,  "Christ  Jesus, 
who  being  in  the  form  of  God.  .  .emptied  himself,  taking 
the  form  of  a  servant  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men; 
and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself, 
becoming  obedient  even  unto  death,  yea,  the  death  of  the 
cross.  Wherefore  also  God  highly  exalted  him  and  gave 
unto  him  the  name  which  is  above  every  name,  etc."  The 
dividing  line  between  the  two  states  cannot  be  strictly 
drawn.  But  in  a  general  way  the  earthly  life  and  ministry 
of  Christ,  ending  with  his  death,  is  regarded  as  marking 
the  limits  of  the  state  of  humiliation.  The  state  of  exalta- 
tion, therefore,  begins  with  the  resurrection  from  the  grave. 

2.  Supernatural  Birth. 

Holy  Scripture  teaches  that  Jesus  Christ  was  born  of  a 

woman,  but  begotten  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  not  of  a 

human   father    (Matth.  1:20,  Luke  1:35).  This  "virgin 


118 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


birth"  is  doubted  or  denied  by  some  Christians  on  these 
grounds:  That  it  is  mentioned  only  by  Matthew  and  Luke, 
not  by  Mark  and  John  nor  in  the  Epistles;  that  the  gene- 
alogy of  Christ  in  Matthew  is  traced  through  Joseph;  that 
it  is  unnecessary  for  the  establishment  of  the  divine  nature 
of  Christ  or  his  perfect  sinlessness;  that  it  rests  on  a  mis- 
understanding of  Isaiah  7  :14,  "Behold,  the  virgin  (almah) 
shall  conceive :"  that  it  was  invented  to  explain  the  exalted 
character  of  the  Saviour  and  the  veneration  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  ("semper  virgo")  ;  and  finally,  that  it  is  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  nature. 

Consider  in  reply  to  these  arguments,  the  following: 
a.  The  opening  chapters  of  Matthew  and  Luke  are  integral 
parts  of  these  Gospels  and  there  is  no  reason  for  suspecting 
their  genuineness  and  historical  character.  If  Mark  and 
John  omit  the  account  of  Christ's  birth,  it  is  probably 
because  they  relate  only  what  they  themslves  had  a  per- 
sonal knowledge  of.  The  Apostle  Paul  was  called  to  be  a 
witness  of  Christ's  resurrection  as  a  pillar  of  the  Christian 
faith,  not  of  his  miraculous  birth.  John  certainly  appears 
to  know  of  it,  when  he  writes  about  "children  of  God, 
born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will 
of  man,  but  of  God,"  and  "no  man  hath  ascended  into 
heaven,  but  he  that  descended  out  of  heaven"  (John  1 :13 
and  3:13).  b.  Matthew,  who  traces  Christ's  genealogy 
through  Joseph,  according  to  Jewish  law,  expressly  does 
not  say :  Joseph  begat  Jesus,  but  he  was  "the  husband  of 
Mary,  of  whom  Jesus  was  born."  c.  The  supernatural 
birth  of  Christ,  if  it  was  not  the  only  way  in  which  the 
union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  one  person  could 
be  affected,  is  the  most  natural  and  rational  way  of  ac- 
counting for  it.  The  objection  that  it  is  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  nature  counts  for  very  little  in  this  greatest  self- 
revelation  of  God,  which  must  be  supernatural,  d.  By 
means  of  the  virgin  birth  we  have  in  Jesus  Christ  a  true 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  119 

representative  man,  not  a  limited  individuality,  as  ordi- 
nary men  are,  but  a  universal  man,  a  second  Adam. 

3.  The  Mystery  of  the  Incarnation. 

The  manner  in  which  such  a  union  of  the  divine  Spirit 
with  the  embryo  of  a  human  being  was  brought  about  and 
the  relation  existing  between  the  babe  of  Bethlehem  and  the 
eternal  Word  or  Logos,  is  to  our  finite  understanding  an 
unfathomable  mystery.  By  way  of  illustration,  analogies 
have  been  found  in  a  piece  of  iron  heated  through  with  fire, 
or  in  two  concentric  circles,  viz.,  a  small  circle  within  a 
large  one.    Consider  also  the  following  suggestions : 

a.  As  God  is  the  absolute  cause  of  his  existence,  he  can 
certainly  change  his  mode  of  existence  for  a  higher  purpose. 
b.  If  the  race  of  man  is  created  in  the  image  of  God,  it  does 
not  seem  to  be  outside  of  the  sphere  of  divine  operation  to 
enter  this  race  in  closest  union,  in  order  to  restore  the 
image  marred  by  sin.  c.  An  antitype  of  the  incarnation  of 
the  Son  of  God  in  the  man  Jesus  is  given  us  in  the  mystery 
of  the  spiritual  birth  or  regeneration  of  every  "child  of 
God."  Here  also  the  begetting  principle  is  the  Spirit  of 
God  and  through  the  receptive  faith  of  the  repentant  sinner 
the  new  man  is  born  "that  after  God  hath  been  created  in 
righteousness"  (Eph.  4:24).  If  the  Spirit  of  God  can  enter 
the  soul  of  ordinary  men  and  make  his  abode  there,  it  is 
not  altogether  strange  that  he  should  find  his  abode  in  the 
perfect  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

As  to  the  mode  of  manifestation  of  the  divine  nature  in 
Christ  during  his  earthly  life,  three  different  theories  have 
been  advanced,  a.  The  first  is  the  Emptying  or  Kenosis 
theory  (Phil.  2 :7,  exi vwffe,  "emptied  himself")  viz.,  The 
divine  Son,  in  the  incarnation,  divested  himself  of  his 
divine  attributes  of  omniscience  and  omnipotence,  (some 
hold,  also  of  his  self-consciousness,)  and  became  a  human 
soul  in  a  human  body.  As  men,  while  asleep,  relinquish  the 
attributes  of  their  spiritual  being,  so  the  Son  of  God  re- 


120 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTBINB. 


duced  himself  to  the  dimensions  of  humanity  in  the  infant 
Jesus,  b.  The  second  theory  is  that  of  a  'progressive  Incar- 
nation. Divinity  and  humanity  found  a  common  meeting 
point  in  the  personality  of  the  God-man  and  the  Logos 
united  himself  at  the  incarnation  to  the  child  Jesus,  with- 
out loss  of  any  divine  attribute;  but  he  communicated  him- 
self to  the  human  nature  only  in  proportion  as  the  latter 
developed.  So  far  as  the  human  element  was  immature,  so 
far  the  divine  nature  also  was  not  fully  revealed,  c.  The 
third  theory  is:  Full  divine  attributes,  but  no  exercise  of 
them.  The  divine  nature  was  unaltered  and  from  the  first 
was  fully  united  with  the  human  nature.  The  humiliation 
was  a  giving  up  of  the  use  or  exercise  of  the  divine  attri- 
butes. The  Son  of  God  divested  himself  of  his  "glory" 
(John  17:5)  and  of  his  "riches"  (II  Cor.  8:9),  so  that 
the  God-man  continuously  surrendered  the  exercise  of  the 
divine  powers  with  which,  in  virtue  of  his  divine  nature,  he 
was  endowed. 

While  the  last  named  theory  is  considered  the  orthodox 
view,  having  most  to  support  it  in  the  Scripture  testimony, 
something  may  be  said  also  in  favor  of  the  two  others.  But 
it  seems  useless  to  argue  further  about  a  mystery  which,  to 
limited  human  knowledge,  is  inscrutable.  In  the  view  of 
the  God-man  presented  to  us  in  the  Gospels,  certainly,  the 
divine  nature  during  most  of  his  earthly  life  is  latent  and, 
apparently,  only  now  and  then  present  in  his  consciousness 
and  manifested  to  his  disciples. 

4.  Earthly  Life. 

The  God-man  then,  as  to  his  human  nature,  passed  through 
the  ordinary  stages  of  earthly  life,  in  its  threefold  develop- 
ment of  growth  in  body,  intelligence  and  spiritual  capacity 
(Luke  2:52).  We  like  to  think  of  Christ  as  the  ideal  of 
manly  beauty  and  artists  of  successive  ages  have  en- 
deavored to  give  expression  to  this  idea,  but  none  of  the 
Evangelists  have  left  us  a  picture  of  the  countenance  and 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


121 


stature  of  the  Saviour,  perhaps  purposely  avoiding  what 
might  detract  from  the  universality  of  the  person  of  the 
Redeemer  or  cause  Christians  to  build  their  faith  upon 
things  visible,  rather  than  invisible.  The  early  Church 
emphasized  the  idea  of  the  suffering  Messiah  of  Isaiah  53, 
so  as  to  apply  to  Jesus  Christ  literally  the  declaration:  "He 
hath  no  form  or  comeliness  and  when  we  shall  see  him  there 
is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him."  But  it  is  reason- 
able to  think,  that  the  face  of  the  Son  of  Man  reflected,  at 
least  in  some  degree,  the  beauty,  harmony  and  nobility  of 
the  indwelling  spirit.  The  power  of  his  looks  is  several 
times  mentioned  in  the  Gospels  (Mark  3:5,  34).  The  man 
to  whom  mothers  brought  their  children  to  have  them 
blessed  and  who  took  them  into  his  arms  could  not  have  had 
a  hard  face,  but  one  that  inspired  confidence.  The  voice  of 
the  preacher  of  the  sermon  on  the  Mount  that  brought  the 
response,  "they  were  astonished,"  or  that  rebuked  the 
spirits  of  the  water  with  a  "Peace  be  still,"  must  have  been 
strong  and  sweet.  He  who  constantly  wandered  about  with 
his  disciples,  who  frequently  fasted  or  spent  a  part  of  the 
night  on  a  mountain  in  prayer,  must  have  been  robust  and 
healthy.  However,  his  body  was  subject  to  ordinary  human 
limitations;  it  needed  food  and  drink  and  sleep,  it  was 
liable  to  disease  and  pain. 

Jesus  Christ  being  one  with  God,  must  have  had  the  full- 
ness of  divine  wisdom  and  knowledge  at  his  command, 
whenever  he  needed  them  for  his  work  (John  14:6).  But 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  his  earthly  life  his  knowledge 
increased  gradually  within  the  limitations  of  environment 
and  opportunity.  He  was  a  Hebrew  among  Hebrews,  of 
circumscribed  mental  capacity.  While  we  must  suppose 
that  his  divine  mission  was  with  him  from  the  beginning  of 
personal  consciousness,  that  also  grew  in  clearness,  as  he 
entered  upon  his  public  ministry. 

The  God-man  could  be  tempted,  not  indeed  in  his  divine 


122 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


nature,  but  as  the  Son  of  Man.  Though  free  from  the  taint 
of  hereditary  sin  (Heb.  7:26),  he  was  brought  into  daily 
contact  with  sin  and  exposed  to  temptations  from  without. 
His  sinlessness  was  not  a  simple  necessity  of  nature,  but  a 
personal  act  of  self-determination.  He  was  "born  under 
the  law"  and  "he  learned  obedience"  (Gal.  4:4,  Heb.  5:8). 
The  possibility  of  his  yielding  to  the  temptations  was  not 
excluded  (compare  Matth.  16:23,  "thou  art  a  stumbling 
block  unto  me").  Only  by  constantly  conquering  the 
power  of  evil,  sin  became  to  him  a  moral  impossibility.  As 
he  came  forth  from  each  new  temptation  untouched  by  sin, 
he  became  the  pattern  of  human  righteousness.  What  John 
predicates  of  every  true  believer,  viz.,  (I  John  3:9),  "he 
cannot  sin,"  applied  then  without  limitation  to  Christ. 

5.  Sufferings. 

In  some  respects  the  entire  life  of  Christ  on  earth  was  a 
life  of  suffering.  He  was  subject  to  hunger  and  thirst, 
weariness  and  want.  For  thirty  years,  he  lived  a  life  of 
obscurity,  as  the  carpenter's  son  at  Nazareth.  Later  in  his 
ministry,  he  became  a  homeless  wanderer  who  sometimes 
had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  (Matth.  8:20).  He  was 
despised  of  men  and  persecuted.  They  even  sought  to  kill 
him,  though  he  "told  them  the  truth"  and  "went  about  doing 
good"  (John  8:40,  Acts  10:38).  He  also  suffered  from  the 
ordinary  daily  intercourse  with  sinners,  who  were  wearying 
his  soul  (Luke  9:41).  But  in  a  narrower  sense  his  suffering 
began  a  short  time  before  his  death.  He  suffered  first  the 
anticipation  of  death  in  the  spirit,  on  Palm  Sunday,  when 
the  Hosannas  of  the  people  ceased  and  the  Greeks'  coming 
reminded  him  that  the  hour  had  come,  "for  the  Son  of  Man 
to  be  glorified"  (John  12:23-27).  He  suffered,  next,  in  his 
soul,  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  when  the  awfulness  of  the 
approaching  maltreatment,  as  of  a  criminal,  and  of  the  death 
of  a  sinner,  overwhelmed  him  and  caused  him  bitter  anguish 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  BAVIOUR.  123 

and  agony.  He  suffered  finally  in  the  body  before  Pilate  and 
in  the  torments  of  the  crucifixion  on  Calvary. 

If  the  anguish  of  soul  manifested  by  our  Saviour  in  Geth- 
semane  and  on  Calvary  has  been  a  surprise  to  some,  as  com- 
pared with  the  cheerful  fortitude  of  certain  Christian 
martyrs  under  long  continued  torture,  we  must  consider, 
that  to  the  holy  Christ  his  suffering  and  death  was  a  far 
more  revolting  experience  than  to  ordinary  men  and  par- 
ticularly to  Christian  martyrs.  For  the  cross  which  was 
laid  on  him  and  to  which  he  was  nailed  embodied  the  sins 
of  the  world,  and  he  tasted  the  bitterness  of  death,  as  the 
penalty  of  sin,  in  a  manner  in  which  no  other  mortal  ever 
was  required  to  experience  it. 

The  greatest  depth  of  suffering  must  have  been  reached, 
when  the  Saviour  uttered  the  cry:  "My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  because  the  guilt  and  penalty  of  sin 
that  were  laid  on  him  so  completely  covered  his  human 
nature  as  to  cut  him  off,  momentarily  at  least,  from  com- 
munion with  the  Holy  God. 

6.  Death  and  Descent  to  Hades. 
Though  the  redeeming  work  of  Christ  on  earth  was  com- 
pleted when  he  said:  "It  is  finished,"  yet  the  state  of 
humiliation  continued,  including  the  experience  of  physical 
death  and  his  descent  to  the  world  of  departed  spirits. 
There  have  been  and  there  are  those  who  doubt  the  reality 
of  Christ's  death  and  who  hold  that  he  was  deposited  in  the 
grave  in  an  unconscious  state  and  afterwards  revived.  Such 
a  theory,  instead  of  explaining  the  story  of  the  resurrection, 
can  only  make  it  an  inexplicable  problem.  Futhermore, 
the  Evangelist  John,  in  order  to  meet  any  possible  doubt  of 
this  kind,  expressly  mentions  evidences  of  the  actuality  of 
Christ's  death,  such  as  the  piercing  of  his  heart  and  the 
flow  of  blood  and  water  from  it.  The  burial  of  the  lifeless 
body,  according  to  current  ideas,  was  rather  honorable. 
Still  the  fact  itself  of  the  body  of  the  holy  Christ  being  laid 


124 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTEINB. 


away,  like  that  of  sinful  men,  to  "return  to  the  dust,"  must 
be  regarded  as  a  part  of  his  humiliation. 

As  to  the  state  of  the  "human  soul  or  spirit  of  Christ, 
while  the  body  lay  in  the  tomb,  the  (so  called)  Apostles 
Creed  contains  the  words:  ''descended  into  hell."  This 
declaration  is  taken  from  Acts  2  :27,  where  Peter  applies  to 
Christ  the  words  of  Psalm  16:9,  "Thou  wilt  not  leave  my 
soul  in  hell;  neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see 
corruption."  The  Hebrew  has,  Sheol  and  the  Greek, 
Hades,  words  which  simply  designate  the  spirit  world  or 
the  invisible  state  of  the  dead,  conceived  by  common  belief 
to  be  a  place,  where  the  departed  spirits  congregate. 
Jewish  theology  distinguished  in  this  spirit  world  between, 
Abraham's  bosom  or  Paradise  for  the  righteous,  and 
Gehenna  for  the  wicked;  and  Greek  belief  correspondingly 
divided  Hades  into  Elysium  and  Tartarus. 

The  Church  fathers,  therefore,  held  that  while  Christ's 
body  lay  in  the  grave,  his  spirit  abode  in  the  realm  of  the 
departed  spirits,  the  most  general  belief  being,  that  he  there 
proclaimed  the  good  tidings  of  the  accomplished  atonement 
to  the  faithful  believers  of  the  Old  Covenant  who  had  been 
waiting  for  his  coming.  Origen  was  the  first  who  taught, 
that  Christ  descended  into  Gehenna,  the  place  of  the  con- 
demned, in  order  to  deliver  the  prisoners  of  Satan  who 
were  there  detained.  Gradually  the  Church  in  general  in- 
clined toward  this  belief,  on  the  ground  of  I  Peter  3 :19 : 
"he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison,  which 
aforetime  were  disobedient,"  and  because  of  the  prevailing 
conviction  that  all  men  after  death  must  pass  through  a 
purgatory  before  they  can  enter  heaven.  To  this  day,  the 
Roman  Church  teaches  that  the  object  of  Christ's  descent 
was  to  free  the  Old  Testament  believers  from  bondage  (the 
"limbus  patrum")  and  to  lead  them  to  heaven. 

Protestant  teaching  is  not  united  on  this  point.  Luther 
held  that  the  Saviour  went   to  hell  as  a  conqueror  in 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


125 


triumph,  to  proclaim  his  victory  over  Satan  and  to  an- 
nounce liberty  to  the  captives.  Calvin  said  that  Christ  de- 
scended to  the  place  of  torment,  in  order  himself  to  endure 
the  pain  of  the  condemned,  as  a  part  of  his  substitutional 
suffering.  The  Heidelberg  Catechism  explains  "the  de- 
scent to  hell"  as  "unspeakable  anguish,  sorrows  of  death 
and  hellish  agonies"  which  Christ  endured  on  the  cross, 
while  the  "Westminster  Catechism  defines  it  to  mean  nothing 
more  than  that  he  died  and  was  buried. 

Scripture  testimony  in  regard  to  this  question  is  very 
limited.  The  quotation  in  Acts  2  :27,  "Thou  wilt  not  leave 
my  soul  in  Hades,"  only  expresses  the  confidence  that 
Christ  could  not  remain  under  the  power  of  death.  We 
know  of  but  three  passages  which  seem  to  have  a  bearing 
on  this  point,  viz.,  Col.  1 :18,  Christ  is  "the  first  born  from 
the  dead,"  that  is  from  the  assembly  or  company  of  dead 
men;  Luke  23:43,  the  promise  to  the  malefactor,  "To-day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise;"  and  I  Peter  3:18,  19, 
"Being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  in  the  spirit, 
in  which  also  he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in 
prison,  etc."  The  "Paradise"  must  be  that  which  was  taught 
in  Jewish  theology  and  the  most  obvious  meaning  of  the 
words  in  I  Pet.  3,  though  referred  by  some  to  Christ  as  pre- 
existent  in  the  days  of  Noah,  appears  to  be  that  Christ, 
"made  alive  after  the  death  of  his  body  for  a  higher  spiritual 
existence,  proclaimed  the  Gospel  of  salvation  in  the  world  of 
spirits  to  the  contemporaries  of  Noah,"  as  well  as  to  Moses 
and  Elijah.  This,  however,  would  not  exclude  the  idea  of 
the  dying  Saviour  having  entered  the  state  of  rest  which 
men  enjoy,  when  the  sufferings  of  this  life  are  ended.  Com- 
pare Rev.  14:13,  "They  rest  from  their  labors." 

Thus  considered,  Christ's  descent  into  "Hell"  or  the  world 
of  departed  spirits,  has  a  threefold  significance:  1.  It  is  an 
additional  proof  of  his  real  humanity  which  extended  also 
to  the  state  after  death.    2.  It  testifies  of  the  far  reaching 


126 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


effect  of  his  redemptive  work,  as  availing  both  for  the  quick 
and  the  dead.  3.  It  shows  that  "in  none  other  is  there  sal- 
vation, neither  is  there  any  other  name  under  heaven  wherein 
we  must  be  saved"  (Acts  4:12). 

While,  therefore,  in  some  respect,  the  descent  to  Hades 
marks  the  beginning  of  Christ's  exaltation,  yet  his  sharing 
the  lot  of  humanity  by  entering  the  world  of  departed  spirits, 
forms  the  turning  point  from  humiliation  to  exaltation. 

Chapter  XXIII.  The  State  of  Exaltation. 
1.  The  Resurrection  of  Christ. 
During  the  earthly  life  and  ministry  of  Christ  a  veil  was 
drawn  over  his  glory,  though  even  then  the  "grace  and  truth" 
in  him  shone  through  that  veil  (John  1:14).  The  sublime 
doctrines  which  he  proclaimed,  the  perfect  life  which  he 
lived,  the  wonderful  miracles  which  he  performed,  the  voices 
from  heaven  which  accompanied  his  birth,  baptism  and 
transfiguration,  were  anticipations  of  his  glory.  Properly 
speaking,  however,  the  state  of  exaltation  begins  with  the 
resurrection. 

The  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead  is  de- 
clared by  the  Apostle  Paul  and  all  the  disciples  of  Christ 
to  be  the  fundamental  fact  of  the  Gospel  proclamation.  It 
was  so  regarded  by  Christ  himself,  being  the  divine  attesta- 
tion and  seal  of  his  redemptive  work.  All  his  claims  and 
promises  rest  on  this  fact.  Without  the  resurrection,  the 
Gospel  would  be  a  myth  and  redemption  a  failure,  as  Paul 
writes  in  I  Cor.  15  :14,  "If  Christ  hath  not  been  raised,  then 
is  our  preaching  vain,  your  faith  also  is  vain." 

When  we  read  in  Acts  2  :24,  that  "God  raised  up"  Jesus 
and  in  John  10:18  Christ  himself  declared,  "I  have  power 
to  lay  down  my  life,  and  I  have  power  to  tafce  it  again,"  we 
conclude  that  the  Godman  raised  up  his  human  nature  by 
his  divine  nature  being  one  with  God.    But  neither  the 


PART  THIBD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


127 


apostles  nor  we  are  so  much  concerned  about  the  manner  of 
his  resurrection  or  the  nature  of  his  resurrection  body,  as 
about  the  fact  itself,  that  "Christ  being  raised  from  the 
dead  dieth  no  more"  (Rom.  6:9),  "I  was  dead  and  behold, 
I  am  alive  for  evermore"  (Rev.  1:18).  The  opponents  to 
Christian  belief  have  always  taken  special  pains  to  attack 
this  pillar  of  Christianity.  We  read  in  Acts  4 :2  that  the 
Sadducees  were  grieved  or  "troubled,  because  the  disciples 
proclaimed  in  Jesus  the  resurrection  from  the  dead"  and 
the  champions  of  modern  unbelief  triumphantly  declare, 
that  Christianity,  as  taught  and  believed  in  by  Paul  and  the 
other  apostles,  has  fallen  with  the  myth  of  Christ's  resur- 
rection. We,  however,  hold  this  to  be  a  primary  article  of 
the  Christian  faith. 

a.  The  possibility  of  a  resurrection  from  the  dead  is  con- 
ceded with  the  belief  in  a  personal  God.  He  who  created 
heaven  and  earth,  must  certainly  be  able  to  restore  a  body 
to  life,  and  nature  presents  countless  illustrations  and  ex- 
emplifications of  this  possibility,  in  every  sprouting  blade 
of  grass  and  every  butterfly  that  comes  out  in  the  spring 
time. 

b.  .  The  Biblical  account  expressly  states  that  the  dis- 
ciples, having  despaired  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  when  he 
expired  on  the  cross,  did  not,  at  first,  believe  the  story  of 
his  resurrection.  But  becoming  fully  assured  by  at  least 
ten  successive  appearances  of  Jesus,  that  he  was  alive  and 
bodily  present  with  them,  they  made  this  fact  the  leading 
message  of  their  proclamation  and  many  af  them  sealed 
their  testimony  with  their  own  blood. 

c.  The  external  results.  The  wonderful  success  which 
has  accompanied  the  preaching  of  this  truth  testifies  to  its 
objective  reality.  What  else  could  have  overcome  the 
terrible  persecutions  which  assailed  the  Church  during  the 
first  centuries?  What  else  brought  to  the  foot  of  the  cross 
peoples  and  rulers  of  all  realms  and  races,  but  a  living, 


128 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


risen  Christ?  What  else  gives  to  the  Christian  Church  her 
undying  vitality  and  missionary  inspiration,  but  the  firm 
assurance,  that  Christ  is  her  living  head  ?  . 

d.  The  spiritual  effect.  It  may  be  urged  that  certain 
superstitions  which  have  held  sway  for  a  long  time  have 
also  produced  wonderful  achievements  of  external  success; 
but  no  conscious  falsehood  could  have  regenerated  the 
morality  of  the  world,  like  the  preaching  of  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  has  done.  It  has  proved  in  every  way  beneficial 
and  salutary,  elevating,  cheering  and  strengthening  the 
Christian  believer. 

2.  The  Forty  Days. 
After  his  resurrection  Christ,  apparently,  remained  in 
this  earthly  realm  for  forty  days.  At  least,  his  disciples 
saw  and  met  him  now  and  then,  either  singly  or  gathered 
together.  The  object  of  these  manifestations  was  threefold: 
a.  The  disciples  were  given  full  and  convincing  evidence  of 
the  master's  being  alive  and  bodily  present,  b.  He  wanted 
to  teach  them  certain  truths  which  they  could  not  grasp 
before  his  death,  yet  were  to  learn  personally  from  their 
Lord,  such  as  the  fulfillment  of  messianic  prophecies,  c. 
They  were  gradually  to  be  weaned  away  from  the  physical 
to  the  spiritual,  from  the  visible  to  the  invisible  presence  of 
the  Saviour. 

He  appeared  to  them  in  the  body  which  had  been  nailed 
to  the  cross,  in  so  far  that  it  showed  the  prints  of  the  nails 
which  had  pierced  his  hands  and  feet  and  the  open  wound 
in  his  side.  Yet  his  body  was  changed.  Mary  Magdalene 
did  not  recognize  the  Lord,  until  he  called  her  by  name,  and 
the  two  disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus  walked  and  talked 
with  him  a  long  time  before  their  eyes  were  opened.  The 
risen  Christ  entered  a  room,  the  doors  of  which  were  locked 
or  bolted,  and  he  vanished  before  their  eyes  in  a  mysterious 
manner.  The  resurrection  body  retained  the  properties  of 
material  existence  to  the  extent  of  partaking  of  food  and 


PAST  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  129 

drink,  but  its  flesh  and  blood  were  changed  into  a  higher 
form  of  bodily  manifestation. 

As  the  risen  Christ  spent  but  a  small  portion  of  the  forty 
days  with  his  disciples  and  yet  did  not  ascend  to  heaven,  it 
has  been  surmised,  that  the  activity  referred  to  in  I  Peter 
3 :19,  namely,  the  proclaiming  of  salvation  to  the  Spirit 
world,  belongs  to  this  period  as  well  as,  or  more  than,  to  the 
time  before  his  resurrection.  There  is,  however,  no  positive 
Scripture  evidence  for  this  theory,  which  must  remain  a 
simple  supposition. 

3.  The  Ascension. 

The  third  stage  in  the  exaltation  of  Christ  was  his  ascen- 
sion. As  he  had  foretold  in  John  6  :62  and  14 :2,  3,  that  he 
would  go  to  heaven  whence  he  had  come,  so  in  the  presence 
of  many  disciples  he  was  taken  from  the  earth  and  being 
lifted  up,  visibly,  he  vanished  in  a  cloud.  The  story  of  the 
ascension,  as  given  in  the  Bible,  makes  it  appear  that  there 
was  a  local  transfer  of  Christ's  body  from  this  earth  to 
some  other  region  or  realm,  called  heaven,  as  Christ  himself 
had  told  his  disciples :  "In  my  father's  house  are  many 
mansions;  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you."  Though  we 
cannot  tell,  what  stars  or  worlds  in  particular  may  be  the 
center  of  the  material  heavens,  it  is  quite  conceivable  that 
there  is  a  place,  where  the  Creator  manifests  his  glory,  in 
this  visible  universe,  in  a  special  manner. 

So  much  we  know,  that  the  ascension  was  Christ's  final 
entrance  into  his  invisible  glory.  It  was  a  fitting  conclusion 
of  the  work  of  redemption  that  his  human  nature  was  re- 
ceived into  the  glory  of  heaven.  For  this  sinful  earth  is  no 
fit  abode  for  the  glorified  Redeemer  until  it  is  regenerated. 
Furthermore,  Christ  went  to  the  Father  to  make  intercession 
for  his  brethren,  on  the  strength  of  his  atoning  work,  as  he 
had  promised  (John  14:3.  13)  and,  finally,  he  went  to  send 
the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  invisible  working  was  better  suited 
9 


130 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


to  complete  the  work  of  salvation,  than  the  visible  presence 
of  the  God-man  (John  16:7). 

4.  Sitting  at  the  Right  Hand  of  God. 

In  these  words,  the  Apostles'  Creed  expresses  the  fourth 
stage  of  Christ's  exaltation,  as  declared  by  the  Evangelist 
in  Mark  16 :19,  and  elsewhere  and  in  accordance  with  the 
promise  given  in  Psalm  110 :1 :  "The  Lord  said  unto  my 
Lord,  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand,  until  I  make  thine  enemies 
thy  footstool."  This  is  evidently  a  figure  borrowed  from  the 
palace  and  throne  of  an  earthly  monarch.  It  denotes  the 
high  dignity  bestowed  upon  the  Saviour  after  his  ascension. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  the  divine  nature  of  the  God-man  as 
having  an  increase  of  dignity,  but  his  human  nature  after 
the  ascension  shared  in  the  divine  glory.  See  Ephes. 
1 :20-22  and  Phil.  2  :9-ll.  All  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth 
is  now  given  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  God-man,  because  he  is  the 
Saviour  of  man,  and  this  honor  and  glory  constantly  increase 
in  proportion  as  the  promise  is  being  fulfilled  "that  at  the 
name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  in  heaven  and  on 
earth  and  under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  con- 
fess that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
father"  (Phil.  2:10,  11). 

A  disputed  point  in  connection  with  this  "Sitting  at  the 
Right  Hand"  is,  whether  the  God-man,  since  his  ascension, 
can  be  said  to  be  bodily  present  with  the  believer  on  earth 
or  only  through  the  divine  Spirit?  This  question  is  of  im- 
portance mainly  for  the  understanding  of  the  mode  of  the 
presence  of  Christ  in  the  Sacrament.  The  parting  declara- 
tion of  the  Saviour,  before  his  ascension,  was:  "Lo,  I  am 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Are  we 
to  understand  this  to  mean,  that  the  glorified  body  shares 
the  divine  attribute  of  omnipresence,  that  it  is  ubiquitous? 
The  idea  of  a  human  body  would  seem  to  imply  the  attri- 
bute of  limitation  to  a  definite  form  and  space.  Hence 
locality  appears  inseparable  from  our  conception  of  a  body 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  131 

and  we  must  think  of  the  body  of  Christ  as  confined  to  a 
definite  place  "in  heaven."  But  as  the  human  and  the  divine 
nature  in  the  God-man  are  inseparably  united,  we  may, 
nevertheless,  believe  that  the  divine-human  Saviour  as  such 
is  everywhere  personally  present  with  his  people.  The 
manner  in  which  this  is  done,  we  cannot  attempt  to  explain. 


Chapter  XXIV.    The  Prophetic  Office  of  Christ. 

1.  The  Three  Offices. 

As,  in  considering  the  person  of  Christ,  we  speak  of  him 
as  passing  through  the  two  states  of  humiliation  and  exalta- 
tion, so  the  mediatorial  work  of  Christ  may  be  most  clearly 
set  forth  under  the  title  of  three  "offices"  (Lat.  officia)  or 
functions,  viz.,  a  prophetic,  a  priestly  and  a  kingly  office. 
We  are  told  that  Jewish  theology,  even  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  taught  that  the  Messiah  would  wear  a  threefold 
crown,  viz.,  the  crown  of  the  law,  the  crown  of  the  priest- 
hood and  the  crown  of  the  kingdom.  While  these  terms  and 
titles,  when  applied  to  the  Saviour,  must  be  understood  to 
be  figurative,  (as  well  as  those  of  physician,  shepherd,  lamb, 
etc.,)  there  is  good  Scripture  authority  for  using  them.  In 
Duet.  18:15  Israel  is  given  the  promise:  "Jehovah  thy  God 
will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  Prophet  from  the  midst  of  thy 
brethren,  like  unto  me  (Moses)  ;  unto  him  shall  ye  harken." 
In  Psalm  110:4  we  read:  "Thou  art  a  Priest  forever,  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek,"  and  Jeremiah  23 :5  proclaims : 
"Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  raise 
unto  David  a  righteous  Branch,  and  a  King  shall  reign  and 
prosper  and  shall  execute  judgment  and  justice  in  the  earth" 
(compare  Zechar.  9:9).  These  three  titles  given  to  Christ 
correspond  to  a  threefold  need  of  the  human  race.  Being 
ignorant,  guilty  and  helpless  in  consequence  of  the  fall,  the 
sinful  world  needs  a  prophet,  to  teach  the  way  of  salvation, 


132 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


a  priest,  to  atone  for  its  sins  and  a  king,  to  uplift  and  to 
direct  his  people. 

2.  Christ,  the  Greatest  Prophet. 

A  prophet  is  one  who  speaks  in  the  name  and  by  the  com- 
mission of  God,  one  who  is  inspired  to  teach  the  truth  and 
to  make  known  the  will  of  God.  Jesus  Christ  himself  de- 
clared that  he  came  into  the  world  to  "bear  witness  of  the 
truth."  He  was  recognized  as  a  prophet  by  Jews  and  Samar- 
itans. (Luke  7  :16,  "A  great  prophet  is  arisen  among  us" 
and  John  4:19,  "Sir,  I  perceive  that  thou  art  a  prophet.") 
In  his  ministry  he  combined  the  principal  functions  of  the 
prophetic  office,  by  teaching,  miracle  working  and  foretelling 
future  events.  Before  the  covenant  of  grace  between  God 
and  man  could  be  established,  it  was  necessary  to  teach  and 
to  reveal  the  truth  concerning  the  plan  of  salvation  and  to 
point  out  the  way  for  obtaining  this  salvation,  by  the  preach- 
ing of:  "Repent  and  believe:  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand." 

Jesus  Christ  was  greater  than  all  other  prophets,  a.  He 
was  better  qualified  for  the  office  in  that  he  was  not  hin- 
dered by  human  sin  and  error,  b.  In  virtue  of  the  union  of 
the  divine  nature  with  the  human  in  Christ,  the  revelation 
of  God  through  him  was  direct  and  personal.  Instead  of 
the  "Thus  saith  Jehovah"  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets, 
he  could  say:  "The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  I  speak 
not  from  myself,  but  the  Father  abiding  in  me  doeth  the 
works"  (John  14:10).  c.  He  was  not  merely  a  witness  for 
the  truth,  but  he  was  the  truth  incarnate,  because  in  him, 
the  Eternal  Word,  the  perfect  revelation  of  God  to  the 
world  was  made  manifest.  His  whole  life  not  less  than  his 
words  are  a  revelation  of  God.  "He  that  hath  seen  me, 
hath  seen  the  Father"  (John  14:9).  Therefore,  also,  all 
other  prophets  point  to  him,  but  the  revelation  given  through 
him  is  not  to  be  superseded  by  a  more  perfect  one. 


PAET  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


133 


3.  Principal  Teachings. 
Among  the  great  truths  which  Christ  in  his  prophetic 
office  has  taught  are  the  following: 

a.  The  Sinfulness  of  Man.  In  spite  of  all  endeavors  to 
keep  the  law  of  God  and  to  live  righteously,  the  natural  man 
is  evil  (Matth.  7:11)  and  carnal  (John  3:6),  hence  excluded 
from  the  kingdom  of  God,  until  his  sin  is  removed  and  the 
sinner  is  regenerated.  The  beginning  of  salvation  is  the 
conviction  and  confession  of  sin  and  the  recognition  of  the 
need  of  salvation.  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matth.  5:3). 

b.  The  Plan  of  Salvation.  Christ  revealed  the  love  of  God, 
as  manifested  to  the  world  in  the  decree  of  salvation.  The 
Father  in  heaven  has  sent  his  son  into  the  world  to  save  it. 
A  new  covenant,  the  covenant  of  grace,  is  offered  to  all  who 
will  accept  it.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  brought  near  to 
men  by  the  Son  of  Man,  who  is  also  the  Son  of  God  and  the 
mediator  of  salvation  (John  3  :16). 

c.  Repentance  and  Faith.  The  one  inevitable  condition 
for  obtaining  salvation  is,  that  all  men  must  repent  of  their 
sins  and  believe  on  him  whom  the  Father  has  sent.  For  he 
is  appointed  to  be  the  Saviour  of  all  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  him.  But  he  will  also  be  the  judge  of  those  who 
reject  him  (John  6:29,  40). 

d.  Sanctification.  This  offer  of  free  salvation,  however, 
does  not  change  the  requirement  of  holiness.  The  righteous- 
ness of  the  heirs  of  the  kingdom  must  exceed  that  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees.  The  New  Testament  demand  is: 
"Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is 
perfect"  (Matth.  5:48).  But  the  power  of  sanctification 
also  is  the  gift  of  God,  freely  bestowed  upon  those  who 
through  faith  become  united  with  Christ,  the  Redeemer,  and 
receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  Christ  doth  send 
(John  17:19  and  14:17). 


134 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


The  prophetic  activity  of  Christ  is  continued  by  the  en- 
lightening influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  preaching 
of  his  apostles  and  ministers  (John  16:12,  13). 

Chapter  XXV.    The  Priestly  Office  of  Christ. 
1.  Christ,  the  True  Priest. 

As  the  prophetic  activity  of  the  Saviour  is  especially  con- 
nected with  his  public  ministry  on  earth,  so  his  priestly 
function  is  naturally  associated  with  his  death.  A  priest  in 
Old  Testament  times  was  a  man  who  represented  his  fellow- 
men  before  God,  just  as  the  prophet  represents  God  before 
his  fellow-men.  The  duties  of  the  priest,  accordingly,  were 
threefold :  a.  To  offer  sacrifice  for  the  people ;  b.  To  inter- 
cede for  them  with  prayer  and  supplication;  c.  To  give 
absolution  for  sin  and  to  bless  the  people.  Sinful  man  needs 
a  mediator  to  present  his  person  and  his  offering  to  God,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  them  acceptable. 

But  the  priests  and  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Testament 
were  not  priests  and  sacrifices  in  the  proper  sense.  Jesus 
Christ  alone  possessed  all  the  qualifications  required  for  this 
office.  ISTo  other  priest  had  the  right  of  access  to  God,  no 
sacrifice  but  his  could  really  atone  for  sin,  and  no  one  but 
he,  in  truth,  could  bring  the  blessing  of  God  to  his  people. 
Hence  even  the  high  priests  of  Israel,  as  shown  in  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  were  but  imperfect  types  of  the  true  priest- 
hood of  Christ.  They  exemplified  how  sin  should  be  atoned 
for,  while  Christ  actually  removed  sin  by  the  sacrifice  which 
he  offered  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  himself  the  Lamb  of 
God  (Hebr.  10:10). 

2.    His  Atonement. 
That  Christ  suffered  and  died  for  sin,  to  make  atonement, 
that  is  to  make  man  and  God  "at  one"  and  reconciled,  is  a 
truth  explicitly  taught  in  many  passages  of  Holy  Scripture. 
While  the  word  "atonement"  itself  does  not  occur  in  the  New 


PAST  THIRD  CHEIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  135 

Testament,  and  in  the  Old  Testament,  where  it  is  used,  stands 
for  a  "covering"  of  sin,  all  the  ~New  Testament  writers  agree 
in  their  testimony,  that  the  Saviour  died  on  account  of 
human  sinfulness  and  to  save  sinners.  See  I  Cor.  15 :3, 
"Christ  died  for  our  sins I  Peter  2 :24,  "His  own  self 
bare  our  sins  in  his  body  on  the  tree ;"  I  John  2  :2,  "He  is 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins;"  Hebr.  9  :12,  "Through  his  own 
blood,  he  entered  in  once  for  all  into  the  holy  place,  having 
obtained  eternal  redemption." 

This  truth,  however,  is  denied  or  doubted  by  many  pro- 
fessing Christians  of  our  day,  who  assert :  a.  Christ  suffered 
and  died  only  to  leave  us  an  example  of  patience  and  hope; 
or  b.  To  confirm  the  truthfulness  of  his  teaching  and  seal 
his  testimony,  as  a  martyr  for  the  truth  (the  theory  of 
Faustus  Socinus,  +1604)  ;  or  c.  To  reveal  to  men  the  great 
love  of  God  which  constrains  the  sinner  to  be  reconciled  to 
God  (Abelard).  But  the  death  of  Christ  was  not  only  a 
martyrdom.  If  it  were  intended  to  be  mainly  an  example 
of  patience  and  faith,  other  martyrs  who  died  with  triumph- 
ant joy  would  have  excelled  Jesus  in  this  respect.  If  it  were 
merely  to  attest  the  truth  of  his  doctrine,  it  could,  at  best, 
prove  only  his  personal  sincerity  and  conviction,  not  the 
objective  truth  of  his  testimony.  If  he  died  to  constrain  the 
sinner  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  such  reconciliation  could  not 
take  place  without  the  sinner's  being  first  delivered  from  the 
curse  and  the  power  of  sin,  which  hold  men  captive. 

3.  Various  Aspects  of  the  Atonement. 

Turning  to  the  Scripture  testimony  concerning  the  true 
significance  of  the  atonement,  we  may  classify  the  leading 
declarations  under  four  heads : 

a.  The  moral  or  ethical  aspect.  The  atonement  is  a  mani- 
festation of  God's  love,  in  which  he  reconciled  the  world  unto 
himself,  and  by  an  act  of  free  grace,  for  the  sake  of  his  dear 
Son,  pardons  the  sinner  and  cleanses  him  from  all  guilt. 
See  John  3  :16,  "God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 


136 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTEINE. 


begotten  son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  life."   Rom.  5  :8,  II  Cor.  5  :15. 

b.  The  commercial  aspect.  The  atonement  is  a  ransom 
which  was  paid  by  Christ  to  redeem  the  sinner,  and  his  death 
is  the  price  of  our  deliverance  from  the  slavery  of  sin  and 
death.  Matth.  20:28,  "The  Son  of  Man  came  to  minister, 
and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."    I  Tim.  2  :6. 

c.  The  legal  aspect.  The  atonement  is  further  described  as 
a  fulfillment  of  the  requirements  of  justice.  The  holiness  of 
the  law  was  vindicated  and  satisfaction  was  made  for  sin, 
by  Christ's  bearing  the  penalty  of  sin,  in  order  to  acquit  the 
guilty.  II  Cor.  5  :21,  "Him  who  knew  no  sin  he  made  to 
be  sin  on  our  behalf;  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness 
of  Cod  in  him."    Rom.  5  :19. 

d.  The  sacrificial  aspect.  The  atonement  was  a  work  of 
priestly  mediation,  a  sin-offering  presented  in  behalf  of  sin- 
ful humanity.  Christ,  the  high  priest  and  the  Lamb  of  God, 
died  as  the  substitute  of  man.  John  1 :29  :  "Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  Col.  1 :20, 
Hebr.  9  :11,  12. 

4.  Redemption. 
Among  these  various  methods  of  representing  the  meri- 
torious work  of  Christ,  the  Christian  Church,  for  a  long  time, 
gave  special  preference  to  the  commercial  aspect.  The  death 
of  Christ  is  called  in  the  New  Testament  hvrpov  (lytron), 
a  ransom  (Loesegeld),  indicating  deliverance  from  captivity 
or  slavery,  by  paying  the  price  for  the  one  held  in  bondage. 
Some  of  the  Church  fathers,  therefore,  beginning  with  Origen 
(+254),  held,  that  through  the  fall  Satan  became  the  right- 
ful owner  of  sinful  humanity,  as  he  is  styled  the  "prince  of 
this  world"  (John  12:31).  God  in  his  justice,  respecting 
the  rights  even  of  Satan,  offered  his  son  as  a  ransom  for 
captive  humanity  and  the  transfer  was  made  in  the  Saviour's 
death.  But  as  the  sinless  and  divine  Christ  could  not  be  held 
by  Satan,  the  latter  was  deceived  in  the  transaction  (John 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR.  137 

14:30,  "the  prince  of  the  world  cometh,  and  he  hath  nothing 
in  me").  Others  regarded  the  suffering  and  death  of  Christ 
rather  as  a  battle  with  the  devil,  in  which  he  conquered 
Satan  and  "taking  his  armor,  divided  his  spoils"  (Luke 
11 :22),  by  delivering  captive  man  from  his  bondage. 

The  scripture  foundation  for  this  conception  of  redeeming 
or  rescuing  the  sinner  from  the  ownership  of  Satan  is  rather 
uncertain.  While  we  are  taught  that  the  devil  has  permission 
to  inflict  the  penalty  of  sin  upon  the  sinner,  it  is  nowhere 
stated  that  he  has  any  claim  in  justice  to  hold  sinful  man 
in  bondage.  Accordingly,  Athanasius  already  (+373),  and 
after  him  especially  Anselm  of  Canterbury  (+1109),  in  his 
treatise :  "Cur  Deus  Homo  ?"  dismissed  the  idea  of  redeeming 
man  from  the  power  of  the  devil  and  substituted  for  it  that 
of  a  debt  paid  to  God.  The  debt  was  sin  and  Christ  paid 
the  debt,  by  voluntarily  submitting  to  the  death  of  the  cross. 
The  ransom  paid  by  Christ  thus  becomes  the  same  as  the 
making  of  satisfaction,  by  becoming  man's  substitute. 

5.  Substitution. 

It  has  been  said  that,  for  the  right  understanding  of  the 
Scriptural  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  we  must  combine  the 
fourfold  aspect  of  the  mediatorial  work  of  Christ,  viz.,  the 
moral,  commercial,  legal  and  sacrificial,  to  get  the  proper 
view  of  it.  The  most  prominent  feature,  however,  and  the 
one  most  clearly  presented  is  that  Christ's  suffering  and 
death  were  vicarious,  that  the  atonement  was  accomplished 
through  substitution.  From  ancient  times,  Jew  and  Gentile 
had  brought  sacrifices  for  sin.  The  victim  was  put  in  the 
place  of  the  sinner,  as  an  offering  "for  his  soul"  (Lev. 
17:11).  By  laying  his  hands  upon  the  animal's  head  and 
confessing  his  sins,  the  sinner  endeavored  to  transfer  his 
guilt  upon  his  substitute.  This  type,  according  to  Scripture 
testimony,  was  fulfilled,  when  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour, 
became  our  substitute  and  as  the  Lamb  of  God,  bore  the 


138 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


guilt  of  sin  in  our  stead,  not  by  compulsion  but  willingly, 
out  of  love  (Isai.  53:6,  John  10:17,  18,  Kom.  5:8). 

God  himself  has  provided  an  atonement  which  was  in 
harmony  both  with  his  love  and  with  his  holiness,  recon- 
ciling the  world  unto  himself,  by  Christ  satisfying  the  de- 
mands of  divine  justice  and  rendering  it  consistent  with 
his  holiness  to  have  the  sinner  acquitted.  Christ  Jesus,  the 
God-man,  after  living  a  life  of  sinless  perfection,  in  place 
of  man  and  as  a  man,  yet  permitted  himself  to  be  identified 
with  man's  sin  in  Gethsemane  and  on  Golgotha,  and  bore 
what  the  sinner  should  have  born,  viz.,  God's  holy  dis- 
pleasure against  sin.  The  sinless  life  which  he  lived  as  a 
man  and  the  suffering  which  he  endured  in  man's  stead, 
through  the  union  of  the  divine  with  the  human  nature  in 
him,  became  of  such  infinite  value  that  the  holy  and  righteous 
God  could  accept  the  sacrifice  as  an  equivalent  for  what 
mankind  in  general  should  have  done  and  suffered.  Thus 
the  guilt  of  the  human  race  was  canceled,  when  Christ  cried : 
"It  is  finished." 

6.   Objections  Considered. 

Two  principal  objections  have  been  raised  against  this 
doctrine  of  substitution  and  vicarious  suffering. 

a.  It  is  inconsistent  with  reason,  because  sin  is  a  personal 
act  of  transgression  which  cannot  be  atoned  for  by  Christ's 
taking  the  place  of  the  sinner.  And,  it  lowers  the  standard 
of  human  obligation,  if  instead  of  working  out  our  own 
salvation,  we  depend  upon  the  merits  of  another.  But 
human  sin  differs  from  devilish  sin  in  this  very  feature, 
that  it  is  not  altogether  a  personal  act  of  conscious  inten- 
tion. It  is  a  disease  rather  than  a  crime,  involuntary 
slavery  rather  than  rebellion.  Sin  committed  with  deliber- 
ate purpose,  "with  a  high  hand"  (or  presumptuously,  Numb. 
15 :30)  could  not  be  atoned  for  with  sacrifice  even  under 
the  Jewish  law.  But  human  sin  is  not  an  absolutely  deliber- 
ate act  of  malice.    The  sinner  is  not  fully  identified  with  his 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


139 


sin.  If  he  could  submit  to  the  penalty  for  sin  and,  while 
suffering,  cling  to  God  in  full  trust,  until  he  is  purified  from 
evil,  the  atonement  would  be  accomplished. 

But  no  sinful  man  is  able  to  undergo  this  process  of 
cleansing  and  live,  much  less  could  he  pay  the  penalty  for  a 
fellow  man.  Christ,  the  God-man  and  the  representative 
man,  the  second  Adam  and  head  of  the  race,  could  live  and 
die  in  man's  place,  do  and  suffer  whatever  was  required, 
because  he  stands  in  central  relation  to  all  souls  of  men. 
The  other  objection,  viz.,  "that  it  lowers  the  standard  of 
human  obligation,"  rests  simply  on  a  misunderstanding  of 
the  plan  of  salvation.  No  man  can  "work  out  his  own 
salvation"  unless  "God  worketh  in  him  to  will  and  to  do;" 
but  Christ's  atonement  secures  pardon  only  for  those  who 
acknowledge  their  sinfulness  and  whose  faith  in  the  Saviour 
contains  the  germ  of  holy  living. 

b.  Another  objection  is  raised  on  the  ground  that  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  were  temporal  and  finite,  whereas  the 
punishment  which  threatens  the  sinner  is  eternal.  How  can 
the  redeeming  work  of  the  Saviour  which  was  limited  to  a 
brief  time,  avail  for  sins  that  have  been  committed  for 
thousands  of  years?  Scripture  answers,  because  "God  was 
in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  reckoning 
unto  them  their  trespasses"  (II  Co.  5:19).  The  vicarious 
suffering  of  the  man  Jesus  is  of  infinite  value,  not  because 
he  endured  every  form  of  punishment  which  might  be  due  to 
each  sinner,  paying  as  it  were  eye  for  eye  and  tooth  for 
tooth,  but  because  the  perfect  life  and  the  perfect  love  of 
the  holy  Son  of  Man  were  accepted  of  God  as  an  equivalent 
for  the  guilt  of  humanity.  It  was  not  merely  the  outward 
act,  but  chiefly  the  spirit  and  purpose,  the  holy  will  and  the 
infinite  dignity  of  the  sufferer,  which  constituted  his  suffer- 
ing a  full  equivalent  in  the  eyes  of  infinite  justice. 


140 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


7.  7s  the  Atonement  Limited? 

There  are  two  theories  of  a  limitation  of  the  atonement, 
which  deserve  consideration  and  which  may  be  briefly  termed 
the  Romanist  and  the  Calvinist  limitation. 

a.  At  one  time  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church,  it 
was  believed  that  the  redemption  of  Christ  availed  only  for 
the  sins  committed  before  baptism  and  that  for  sins  com- 
mitted after  receiving  this  rite  the  sinner  himself  must 
make  satisfaction.  This  theory  having  been  rejected  by 
Church  councils  as  a  heresy,  many  Catholic  divines  held, 
that  the  atonement  avails  indeed  for  the  remission  of  eternal 
punishment  for  all  sins,  but  that  the  sinner  will  suffer  the 
temporal  punishment  for  his  sin,  not  only  on  earth,  but  also 
hereafter,  unless  he  makes  satisfaction  for  his  sin.  (Hence 
the  doctrine  of  "indulgences.")  But  how  can  a  sinner  make 
satisfaction  for  his  sins,  either  now  or  hereafter,  if  what- 
ever he  may  offer  is  again  stained  with  sin?  The  Bible 
teaches,  that  "the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin"  (I  John  1:7),  that  he  "has  obtained  an  eternal  re- 
demption," and  "by  one  offering  hath  perfected  forever  them 
that  are  sanctified"  (Hebr.  9:12  and  10:14),  so  that  nothing 
remains  to  be  added. 

b.  The  other  limitation  of  the  meritorious  work  of  Christ 
is  the  belief  that  he  died  for  the  elect  only,  for  those  who 
are  predestined  to  eternal  life.  But  we  have  clear  and 
ample  Scripture  testimony  to  show,  that  Christ  died  for  all 
men  without  exception.  To  quote  but  a  few  passages,  we 
read  in  I  John  2  :2,  "He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins ; 
and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  whole  world ;"  I  Tim. 
2 :4  and  6,  "God,  our  Saviour,  who  willeth  that  all  men 
should  be  saved .  .  .  and  He  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all ;" 
Hebr.  2 :9,  "that  by  the  grace  of  God  he  should  taste  of 
death  for  every  man."  In  Rom.  5  :12-19  the  apostle  makes 
this  the  basis  of  his  argument,  that,  as  sin  came  by  one  man 


PAET  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


141 


upon  all,  so  righteousness  and  forgiveness  of  sin  has  come 
by  one  for  all  men. 

The  few  passages  which  seem  to  limit  the  benefit  of  the 
atonement,  must,  therefore,  be  explained  in  harmony  with 
these  declarations.  Thus  the  declaration  in  Matth.  20 :28, 
"The  son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to 
minister  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many"  does  not 
contrast  the  "many"  with  "all,"  but  with  "few."  The  same 
applies  to  the  statement;  that  "he  laid  down  his  life  for  his 
friends"  (John  15:13).  So  far  as  God  and  Christ  are 
concerned,  salvation  is  unlimited.  The  whole  world,  as  seen 
in  Christ,  is  redeemed ;  objective  provision  is  made  for  all, 
by  the  canceling  of  our  guilt  in  the  atonement.  Those  who 
by  their  unbelief  reject  this  salvation,  exclude  themselves 
from  the  human  world  which  Christ  came  to  redeem. 

8.  Highpriestly  Intercession. 

The  highpriestly  work  of  Christ  continues  after  his  as- 
cension to  heaven.  The  New  Testament  makes  repeated 
mention  of  the  activity  of  the  exalted  Saviour,  who  inter- 
cedes for  his  own  before  the  Father  (Rom.  8  :34,  Hebr.  7 :25, 
I  John  2:1).  This  intercession  in  heaven  does  not  detract 
from  the  sufficiency  of  Christ's  work  on  earth.  It  is  not  a 
pleading  by  which  the  Father  is  moved  to  compassion,  but 
the  continued  presentation  of  the  sacrifice  once  brought  for 
sin  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  constant  mediation  of  divine 
grace  to  the  redeemed.  "For  of  his  fulness  we  all  received, 
and  grace  for  grace."  (John  1  :16).  Objects  of  this  inter- 
cession are  those  who  believe  in  Christ,  not  the  world  as 
such.  The  world  is  entreated  to  accept  salvation,  while 
those  who,  through  Christ,  have  become  children  of  God  are 
ever  presented  to  the  Father,  by  the  "only  begotten  son." 
Thus  Christ's  intercession  is  a  daily  application  of  the 
sacrifice  once  offered  to  the  daily  needs  of  the  redeemed. 


142 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Chapter  XXVI.    The  Kingly  Office  of  Christ. 

1.  Christ  a  King. 
Israel's  Messiah,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  pre- 
dicted in  the  Old  Testament  to  come  as  a  king  (Isai.  9:7), 
and  proclaimed  in  the  New  Testament  to  be  such,  from  the 
time  of  his  birth  (Luke  1:32,  Matth.  2:2).  Even  in  the 
hour  of  his  greatest  humiliation  on  earth,  when  standing 
before  Pilate,  Christ  called  himself  a  king,  who  had  come 
to  establish  his  kingdom.  But  he  is  a  king  in  more  than  one 
sense.  In  his  divine  nature  the  God-man  was  a  king  from 
eternity,  seeing  that  he  is  the  sovereign  ruler  of  the  world, 
which  was  created  of  God  by  Him,  who  is  the  eternal  Word. 
However,  when  Christ's  kingship  is  spoken  of  in  the  New 
Testament,  it  is  generally  not  this  dignity  which  belongs  to 
him  in  virtue  of  his  being  the  Son  of  God,  but  the  media- 
torial kingdom  that  belongs  to  Christ,  in  virtue  of  his  human 
nature  being  exalted  to  divine  honor  and  glory. 

2.   The  Mediatorial  Kingdom. 

By  the  term  Mediatorial  Kingdom,  therefore,  we  under- 
stand that  dominion  which  is  the  reward  of  the  God-man 
for  accomplishing  the  work  of  salvation.  With  regard  to 
the  world  at  large  it  is  a  kingdom  of  power,  with  regard  to 
the  present  establishment,  of  the  Church  it  is  a  kingdom  of 
grace  and  with  regard  to  the  future,  it  will  be  a  kingdom 
of  glory.  He  was  a  king,  while  on  earth,  but  rather  a  king 
by  right,  than  by  actual  rule.  His  coronation  took  place  at 
his  ascension,  as  he  told  the  disciples,  saying:  "All  authority 
hath  been  given  unto  me,  in  heaven  and  on  earth"  (Matth. 
28:18).  God  has  put  into  the  hands  of  the  God-man  the 
administration  of  his  providence.  In  Hebr.  2  :8  we  read : 
"In  that  he  subjected  all  things  unto  him,  he  left  nothing 
that  is  not  subject  to  him."  Accordingly,  during  the  present 
Christian  dispensation,  Christ  is  our  king,  the  Lord  over 
all,  the  supreme  ruler,  to  whom  the  whole  earth  must  yield 


PART  THIRD  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR. 


143 


obedience.  Earthly  monarchs  and  governments  possess  au- 
thority only  as  they  derive  it  from  him,  and  he  uses  all  the 
institutions  of  mankind  for  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom. 

3.  The  Kingdom  of  Grace. 

In  a  narrower  sense,  Christ  exercises  his  kingly  office  in 
and  over  the  Church,  the  kingdom  of  grace  (Ephes.  1 :22, 
23).  For  the  Church  is  the  temporary,  crystallized  form 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Christ  founded  it ;  he  rules  in  it 
by  his  Spirit,  he  defends  it,  he  perfects  it  by  cleansing  it 
and  by  giving  it  the  victory  over  every  foe.  The  relation 
which  he  holds  towards  the  Church  in  general,  as  head  and 
king,  he  also  holds  towards  each  part  of  the  Church  in 
particular  and  to  each  member  of  the  Church.  In  other 
words,  Christ  is  the  only  true  Lord,  having  absolute  authority 
and  control  of  the  Church,  king,  bishop,  or  elder  of  his 
people.  He  has  the  right  to  direct  both  the  spiritual  life 
and  the  temporal  concerns  of  every  branch  of  the  Church 
universal,  as  well  as  of  every  member  therein. 

This  kingdom  of  grace,  though  established  on  earth  and 
with  earthly  forms  of  organization,  is  unlike  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world.  It  can  and  does  exist  under  all  forms  of  civil 
government,  without  any  interfering  with  them.  Its  primary 
object  is  to  exercise  dominion  over  the  souls  rather  than 
over  the  bodies  of  men,  and  although  it  aims  at  a  complete 
change  of  the  world  of  man,  including  its  social  and  political 
aspect,  this  change  is  to  be  brought  about,  not  by  revolution, 
but  by  regeneration. 

4.  The  Kingdom  of  Glory. 

The  third  phase  of  Christ's  kingdom  is  still  future.  It  is 
that  for  which  in  particular  we  pray :  "Thy  kingdom  come !" 
The  progress  of  this  kingdom  also  is  in  a  large  measure 
dependent  upon  the  prayer  and  the  exertion  of  Christian 
men  and  women,  until  "in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
shall  bow .  .  .  and  every  tongue  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is 


144 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father"  (Phil.  2:9,  10). 
Then  will  begin  the  kingdom  of  glory,  when  Christ  will 
return  to  the  earth  and  gather  his  own  into  that  kingdom 
which  has  been  "prepared  for  them  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world"  (Matth.  25:34). 

This  kingdom  is  of  eternal  duration,  as  we  read  in  Kev. 
11 :15,  "The  kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the  kingdom 
of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever 
and  ever."  The  declaration  of  the  Apostle  Paul  in  I  Cor. 
15  :24  that,  when  the  last  enemy,  death,  is  destroyed,  "Christ 
shall  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father," 
clearly  is  not  intended  to  deny  this  truth.  It  refers  to  the 
mediatorial  kingdom  in  its  specific  purpose  of  bringing  sal- 
vation to  a  sinful  world.  When  the  plan  of  salvation  has 
been  fully  accomplished,  there  will  be  no  further  need  of  a 
mediator  and  of  a  mediatorial  kingdom.  The  triune  God, 
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  will  reign  and  govern,  as  he 
did  before  sin  came  into  the  world. 


fl>art  jfourtb— personal  Salvation. 


Chapter  XXVII.  The  Beginning  of  Personal  Salvation. 

1.  Salvation  a  Gift  of  God. 
The  objective  salvation  prepared  for  humanity  in  Christ, 
the  Saviour,  becomes  a  personal  possession  of  man,  when 
he  accepts  it  with  the  conditions  under  which  God  has 
placed  it.  God  will  have  all  men  saved  and  on  his  part, 
whatever  is  needful  for  godliness  and  happiness,  has  been 
provided.  But  the  sinner  must  be  saved  in  the  manner 
ordained  of  God  and  here  the  first  principle  is  this,  that 
"all  glory  of  man  is  excluded"  (Bom.  3:27).  It  is  only 
the  grace  of  God  which  works  any  spiritual  good  in  man. 
He  who  quickens  all  natural  life  is  also  the  sole  creator  of 
spiritual  life.  Man  cannot  purchase  salvation  at  the  price 
of  repentance  and  faith.  It  is  simply  a  gift  of  God,  who, 
through  the  Holy  Spirit,  bestows  upon  sinful  man  all  that 
is  needed.  It  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to  enlighten, 
to  justify  and  to  sanctify.  Only  by  the  operation  of  the 
Spirit,  can  Christ  for  us  become  Christ  in  us.  Our  personal 
salvation,  even  from  the  first  desire  to  be  saved,  is  a  divine 
work,  as  Paul  writes  in  Ephes.  2  :8,  9,  "By  grace  have  ye 
been  saved,  through  faith;  and  that  not  of  yourselves;  it  is 
the  gift  of  God;  not  of  works,  that  no  man  should  glory." 

2.  Salvation  not  ivithoiit  Man. 
Divine  grace,  however,  does  not  annul  conscious  self-de- 
termination on  the  part  of  man.  It  does  not  work  by  magic, 
but  in  accordance  with  the  rational  and  moral  nature  of 
man.  It  remains  ineffectual,  unless  it  meets  with  the  re- 
sponse of  human  willingness.  The  Christian,  that  is  every 
one  who  makes  a  personal  experience  of  salvation,  may  be 
said  to  be  a  likeness  of  Christ  himself.  As  in  him  a  divine 
10 


146 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINNE. 


and  a  human  nature  were  united  in  one  personality,  so  in 
the  regeneration  of  the  sinner  the  divine  and  the  human 
agencies  must  work  together.  As  Christ  was  conceived  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  so  each  "child 
of  God"  must  be  begotten  of  the  divine  spirit,  but  born  in 
a  human  soul.  (Compare  John  1:12,  13).  As  the  relation 
between  the  two  natures  in  Christ  is  a  mystery  to  our  limited 
understanding,  so  is  likewise  the  exact  relation  between  the 
divine  or  creative  and  the  human  or  receptive  principle,  in 
the  salvation  of  man. 

The  analogy  of  physical  birth,  as  illustrating  the  work 
of  personal  salvation,  was  pointed  out  by  Christ  himself  in 
John  3  :3,  and  all  the  ISTew  Testament  writers  make  use  of  it 
(Tit.  3:5,  I  Pet.  1:3,  James  1:18,  I  John  3:9).  As  in  the 
natural  sphere,  so  in  the  spiritual,  there  are  successive  stages 
of  growth,  a.  Life  begins  first  in  an  embryonic  state,  when 
by  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  the  call  to  salvation  is  ex- 
tended and  accepted,  b.  The  child  of  God  is  then  born, 
through  repentance  and  faith,  c.  He  grows  up  to  spiritual 
manhood,  by  a  gradual  increase  of  life  and  activity. 

3.  Individual  Preparation. 

The  actual  beginning  of  personal  salvation  is  to  be  found 
in  the  various  means  employed  of  God  for  preparing  the 
sinner  to  receive  the  call  to  salvation.  Christ  himself  testi- 
fied ,that  no  man  can  come  to  him,  "except  the  Father  draw 
him"  (John  6  :44).  Whenever,  therefore,  a  sinner  is  brought 
nigh  unto  salvation,  it  is  in  consequence  of  such  a  divine 
drawing,  independent  of  his  own  will  or  act.  This  is  some- 
times called  "prevenient  grace."  Its  form  and  manner 
differ,  according  as  a  man  is  either  born  and  brought  up  in 
the  care  of  the  Church  or  without  the  Church.  For  it  is 
not  immaterial,  whether  a  child  grows  up  in  a  Christian 
community  and  is  being  "nurtured  in  the  chastening  and 
admonition  of  tbe  Lord"  (Ephes.  6:4),  or  whether  it  is  sur- 


PART    FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


147 


rounded  by  the  opposite  influences  up  to  the  time,  when  a 
personal  experience  of  saving  grace  it  made. 

a.  Preparation  outside  of  the  Church.  This  class  includes, 
besides  the  heathen,  Mohammedans  and  other  non-Christians, 
the  millions  of  nominal  Christians  who,  though  born  in  a 
Christian  country  and  perhaps  baptized,  grow  up  without 
the  blessings  of  Christian  precept  and  example.  Such  men 
often  receive  a  special  preparation  for  salvation  by  mani- 
festations of  divine  help  or  of  divine  chastisement,  which 
attract  their  attention.  Certain  experiences  which  they 
make,  whether  they  be  of  a  joyful  or  painful  nature,  awaken 
in  them  a  longing  for  something  better  and  higher  than  the 
natural  life  affords.  Or  they  are  furnished  an  opportunity 
to  hear  and  read  a  testimony  to  the  truth,  by  coming  into 
contact  with  Christian  men  and  women  who  can  instruct 
them. 

In  some  cases  the  general  revelation  of  God,  through 
nature,  history  and  the  inner  voice  of  conscience,  is  em- 
ployed to  give  men  the  preparation  for  the  salvation  to  be 
offered  to  them.  In  other  cases  a  direct  testimony  of  re- 
vealed religion  through  a  word  of  Scripture  or  a  Christian 
hymn  which  they  hear,  serves  the  purpose  of  making  an  im- 
pression or  awakening  an  interest  in  spiritual  matters. 

b.  Preparation  within  the  Church.  The  case  is  different 
with  those  who  receive  a  Christian  training.  Where  the 
church  and  the  family  attend  to  their  respective  duties, 
preparatory  divine  grace  finds  more  material  to  work  with. 
Children  of  Christian  parents  who  are  instructed  in  the 
Bible,  who  attend  divine  worship  and  who  are  taught  to  pray, 
are  comparable  to  the  children  of  Israel,  as  distinguished 
from  the  Gentiles.  They  know  the  divine  will  and  his  gra- 
cious promises;  they  believe  in  the  Saviour  in  a  general 
way,  but  do  not  as  yet  make  a  personal  experience  of  religion, 
because  they  do  not  realize  their  sinfulness  and  have  no 
personal  interest  in  salvation. 


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CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Chapter  XXVIII.    The  Call  to  Salvation. 

1.   The  Gospel  Call. 

The  transition  from  preparatory  grace  to  actual,  saving 
grace  is  made  by  the  divine  call  which  invites  the  sinner  to 
come  and  share  in  the  benefits  of  the  salvation  provided  by 
Christ.  God  calls  men,  first,  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
as  Paul  writes  in  II  Tim.  1 :9  :  "He  called  us  with  a  holy 
calling,  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his 
own  purpose  and  grace  which  was  given  us  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  and  Col.  1 :6 :  "Whereof  ye  heard  before  in  the 
word  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  come  unto  you, 
even  as  it  is  in  all  the  world." 

This  general  Gospel  call  includes  three  things,  viz. : 
a.  Christian  instruction,  or  a  presentation  of  the  plan  of 
salvation,  b.  A  promise  of  God  to  save  all  who  are  willing 
to  be  saved,  c.  An  urgent  invitation  and  admonition  to 
accept  this  offer. 

The  Gospel  call  is  addressed  to  all  who  hear  or  read  the 
word  of  God.  It  is  not  confined  to  any  age,  nationality  or 
class  of  men.  It  is  Christ's  invitation:  "Come  unto  me 
all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest"  (Matth.  11:28).  It  is  the  call  of  the  "Spirit  and  the 
bride"  (the  Church)  :  "Come ;  he  that  is  athirst  let  him 
come;  he  that  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely" 
(Kev.  22:17).  It  is  the  mission  call,  as  it  is  written:  "How 
shall  they  believe  in  him  whom  they  have  not  beard?  and 
bow  shall  they  believe  without  a  preacher  ? .  .  So  belief  cometh 
of  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  Christ"  (Rom. 
10:14,  17).  Christ  has  promised  that,  before  the  close  of 
this  world-period,  the  Gospel  shall  have  reached  every  tribe 
of  men.  As  for  those  who  died  before  the  word  of  salvation 
in  Christ  could  be  proclaimed  on  earth,  we  may  conclude 
from  I  Pet.  3  :19  and  4 :6.  that  this  may  have  been  done  for 
them  in  the  Spirit-world,  and  the  same  hope  may  be  enter- 


PART    FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


149 


tained  with  regard  to  the  heathen  who  are  now  dying  with- 
out having  heard  the  Gospel. 

2.  The  Inward  Call. 

The  external  call,  through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  is 
accompanied  or  followed  by  an  inward  call  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  addressed  to  the  heart  of  the  sinner.  The  Gospel 
call  alone  would  not  suffice  to  awaken  sinful  man  from  his 
sleep  and  to  conquer  the  natural  aversion  of  the  heart  to 
spiritual  things.  The  Spirit  of  God  must  first  reprove  and 
"convict  the  heart  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judg- 
ment" (John  16:8),  in  order  to  effect  a  spiritual  awaken- 
ing. But  this  inward  call  of  the  Spirit  is  not  always  heeded. 
Some  of  those  who  hear  the  Gospel  call  seem  averse  to  it 
from  the  beginning;  others  remain  indifferent,  from  first  to 
last ;  while  still  others,  who  apparently  began  to  listen  and 
were  awakened,  sink  back  into  the  sleep  of  sin  and  harden 
their  hearts,  so  that  the  call  becomes  of  none  effect. 

What  is  the  cause  of  this  fact?  Some  have  assumed,  that 
there  is  a  difference  between  what  they  term  a  serious  and  a 
not  serious  call.  The  former  conquers  the  natural  in- 
difference or  enmity  of  the  human  heart,  so  as  to  compel 
the  sinner  to  yield  to  the  divine  influence;  the  latter  pro- 
duces no  permanent  results.  But  the  thought,  that  God's 
call  to  some  men  should  not  be  altogether  a  serious  or  sin- 
cere call,  is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  testimony  of  Scrip- 
ture and  the  nature  of  God.  The  inward  call  to  salvation, 
if  it  is  to  be  of  value  to  the  sinner,  must  involve  the  fur- 
nishing of  all  that  is  required  to  accept  the  offer,  so  that  its 
rejection  is  an  act  of  man's  free  will. 

3.  The  Effectual  Call. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  from  the  experimental 
point  of  view,  the  distinction  between  an  effectual  and  an 
ineffectual  call  is  well  founded.  Not  only  is  there  ample 
evidence  that  the  divine  call  does  not  produce  the  desired 


150 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


awakening  in  the  hearts  of  all  men,  but  even  the  same  per- 
son who  for  a  long  time  has  not  heeded  the  call  to  re- 
pentance and  faith,  often"  does  so  at  last.  This  shows  that 
there  is  a  difference  between  what  has  been  termed  a 
general  and  a  special  or  personal  call.  It  appears  that  the 
special  call  is  addressed  to  the  individual  whenever  he  or 
she  is  properly  prepared  either  to  accept  or  reject  the  offer 
of  salvation,  in  such  a  manner  as  thereby  to  decide  their 
destiny.  If  some  are  called  in  childhood,  or  at  the  third 
hour  of  life,  others  at  the  sixth  hour,  and  still  others  not 
until  the  eleventh,  in  old  age  (as  pointed  out  by  our  Saviour 
in  the  parable  of  the  laborers,  Matth.  chp.  20),  the  cause  of 
the  delay  may  be  altogether  the  natural  perverseness  of  the 
human  heart  which  will  not  yield  to  the  Spirit's  pleading. 
But  it  may  be  due  also  to  the  educational  wisdom  of  God, 
who  delays  the  decisive  call  until  the  right  time  has  come. 

The  manner  in  which  this  personal  and  special  call  comes, 
varies  greatly  with  different  men.  Some  can  testify  that 
they  were  drawn  by  the  Lord  "with  bands  of  love,"  as  the 
prophet  said  of  Israel :  "When  Israel  was  a  child,  then  I 
loved  him  and  called  my  son  out  of  Egypt"  (Hosea  11:1), 
or  as  the  boy  Samuel  at  Shiloh  who  hardly  yet  recognized 
the  divine  voice,  while  he  listened.  Such  men  can  scarcely 
tell  afterwards,  when  and  how  they  became  spiritually 
awakened.  Others,  on  the  contrary,  like  the  jailer  of 
Philippi,  are  struck  with  terror  and  cry  out  trembling: 
"What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  (Acts  16:30).  (Note  the 
contrast  with  Lydia  of  the  same  city,  "whose  heart  the  Lord 
opened,  that  she  attended  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken 
of  Paul,"  Acts  16:14) 

4.  Relation  between  Preparation  and  the  Call  to  Salvation. 

In  the  case  of  men  born  in  a  Christian  community,  the 
sacrament  of  baptism  and  the  Christian  training  which 
they  receive  may  be  said  to  constitute  the  general  call  to 


PART    FOURTH  PERSONAL    SALVATION.  151 

salvation.  To  make  this  general  call  a  special  and  effectual 
one,  the  only  requirement  is  a  personal  realization  of  their 
need  of  a  Saviour,  because  of  the  natural  perverseness  of 
the  heart  and  the  inability  to  love  God  and  to  keep  his 
commandments.  Such  knowledge  of  sin  and  the  consequent 
effectual  call  may  come  very  early  in  life.  In  a  majority 
of  cases,  however,  the  needful  conviction  of  sin  seems  to 
come  only  with  a  longer  experience  of  life. 

The  relation  between  the  awakening  call  and  preparatory 
grace  is  not  necessarily  one  of  a  succession  in  time,  but 
rather  of  logical  sequence.  With  Christian  children,  at 
least,  the  work  of  preparation  to  a  large  extent  follows 
after  the  general  call  to  salvation  has  been  given.  Further- 
more, the  general  call  often  is  not  limited  to  one  short 
moment,  but  extends  over  a  longer  period.  Time  and  man- 
ner in  this,  as  in  every  stage  of  personal  salvation,  cannot 
be  fully  defined  or  circumscribed.  But  all  who  find  salva- 
tion in  Christ  Jesus,  are  first  called  by  the  Gospel,  through 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Every  effort  to  lead  sinners  to  repentance 
and  faith  proves  unavailing,  until  this  awakening  call  has 
been  heard  and  heeded. 

Chapter  XXIX.  Repentance. 

1.  The  Need  of  Repentance. 
After  considering  the  means  by  which  the  Lord  prepares 
and  invites  the  sinner  to  accept  salvation,  we  turn  to  the 
effects  produced  thereby  and  the  human  conditions  required 
for  the  actual  obtaining  of  this  personal  salvation.  John 
the  Baptist,  and  Christ  himself,  commenced  their  preaching 
with  the  demand :  "Repent  ye :  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand"  (Matth.  3:2  and  4:17).  "Repent"  (piSTavoelrs) 
means  "change  your  mind"  or  turn  about,  be  converted. 
The  natural  position  of  sinful  man  is  away  from  Christ  and 
his  salvation,  either  indifferent  and  careless  or  self- 
righteous.    Accordingly,  the  first  demand  made  upon  the 


152 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


natural  man  is  that  he  acknowledge  his  need  of  a  Saviour, 
and  turning  away  from  self  and  sin  to  Christ,  receive  from 
him  forgiveness  and  the  regeneration  of  heart  and  life, 
without  which  it  is  impossible  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God. 

This  turning  away  from  sin  to  Christ  is  what  we  term 
"Conversion."  It  has  a  negative  and  a  positive  aspect.  The 
former,  that  is  the  turning  from  sin,  is  called  repentance, 
the  latter,  that  is  the  turning  to  Christ  and  putting  our 
trust  solely  in  the  Redeemer,  is  called  faith  True  repent- 
ance must  lead  to  faith ;  the  two  are  inseparable,  simply  two 
phases  of  the  same  act. 

2.  False  Conceptions  of  Repentance. 

The  word  "repentance"  is  liable  to  misconceptions.  To 
the  minds  of  many  people  it  conveys  the  idea  of  a  human 
accomplishment  by  which  man  is  bringing  about  his  salva- 
tion. The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  a  whole  system  of 
so  called  "penances"  imposed  upon  the  sinner,  who  desires 
to  make  himself  a  worthy  object  of  divine  grace.  She  has 
made  repentance  a  "sacrament  of  penance"  requiring  three 
acts,  viz.,  contrition,  confession,  and  satisfaction.  Many 
Protestant  Christians  also  entertain  views  which  are  not  in 
accord  with  Scripture  teaching. 

Some  understand  by  repentance,  good  resolutions  of  moral 
improvement  and  spiritual  reform,  or  a  public  profession  of 
religion,  followed  by  a  joining  of  the  Church.  Others  think, 
that  repentance  means  the  intellectual  acceptance  of  the  doc- 
trine of  universal  depravity  and  a  confession  of  sinfulness. 
Still  others  define  it  as  an  experience  of  great  grief  and 
anguish  of  soul  over  the  sins  committed.  While  these  and 
other  manifestations  are  in  order,  as  expressions  of  a  re- 
pentant mind,  we  must  pronounce  it  an  error  to  regard  good 
resolutions,  excited  feelings  and  public  confession  of  sin,  the 
trve  essence  of  repentance,  or  to  measure  its  genuineness  by 
them. 


PART    FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


153 


3.  Elements  of  True  Repentance. 

Evangelical  doctrine,  as  moulded  by  Scripture  teaching, 
defines  repentance  to  mean  such  a  turning  of  the  mind  and 
disposition,  as  will  bring  with  it  a  deep  conviction  of  sin, 
coupled  with  an  earnest  longing  for  salvation.  The  ele- 
ments of  such  true  repentance  are  set  forth  in  the  three 
first  beatitudes  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matth.  5:2-4), 
to  be  the  following,  a.  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for 
theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  This  is,  first  of  all,  a  matter 
of  intellectual  conviction,  a  recognition  of  sin  as  meaningboth 
guilt  and  helplessness  (Ps.  51:3).  b.  "Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn."  The  conviction  of  sin  is  accompanied  by  an 
emotional  element,  a  deep  sorrow  for  sin,  not  merely  for  the 
consequences  of  sin,  but  for  sin  itself  (Ps.  51:1).  c.  "Blessed 
are  the  meek."  The  mourning  of  the  soul  for  sin  leads  to 
meekness,  that  is  willingness  to  surrender  self-will  and  self- 
righteousness,  and  to  accept  the  offer  of  salvation  in  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  presented.  Thus  in  true  repentance, 
successively,  the  intellect,  feeling  and  will  are  affected  and 
prepared  to  recive  the  gift  of  divine  grace. 

4.  The  Author  of  Repentance. 

As  there  cannot  be  anything  truly  good  in  man  which  does 
not  proceed  from  God,  it  follows  that  true  repentance  is  a 
work  wrought  in  man  by  the  Spirit  of  God  Unless  He 
enables  the  sinner  to  repent  and  to  turn  from  the  error  of  his 
way,  there  can  be  no  acceptable  repentance.  But  man  must 
make  use  of  the  power  which  God  gives.  Holy  Scripture 
recognizes  the  voluntary  activity  of  the  human  soul  in  this 
change,  as  distinctly  as  the  divine  origin.  Otherwise  re- 
pentance could  not  be  urged  upon  man  as  a  duty;  compare 
Acts  3:19,  "Repent  and  be  converted  (or  turn  again),  that 
your  sins  may  be  blotted  out."  In  this  respect  repentance 
differs  from  preparatory  grace  and  the  call  to  salvation, 
which  are  purely  divine  acts.  Repentance  is  divine-human, 
the  first  stage  of  the  new  relation  between  God  and  man. 


154 


CHEISTIAN  DOCTKNE. 


5.  The  Motive  to  Repentance. 

But  what  is  the  agency  employed  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
to  produce  repentance?  Does  it  come  by  the  Law  or  by  the 
Gospel?  Christian  experience  has  proved,  that  for  the 
realization  of  guilt  which  is  necessary  for  true  repentance, 
the  commandments  of  the  Law  must  first  convict  us  of  sin, 
as  Paul  writes  in  Rom.  3  :20,  "Through  the  law  cometh  the 
knowledege  of  sin."  However,  the  effect  of  a  purely  nega- 
tive testimony  can  be  but  negative,  a  feeling  of  fear  or  re- 
morse, which  eventually  must  lead  to  despair  or  else  to  a 
hardening  of  the  heart.  "For  the  law  worketh  wrath"  (Rom. 
4:15). 

The  Gospel  of  love  has  a  better  effect.  The  deepest  con- 
viction of  the  guilt  of  sin  and  the  most  earnest  longing  to 
be  free  from  the  bondage  of  sin  are  awakened  by  a  con- 
templation of  the  love  of  God  manifested  in  Christ  Jesus, 
and  him  crucified.  The  Saviour  suffering  for  our  sin  is  the 
most  powerful  incentive  to  repentance  (Acts  2:36,  37). 
In  the  accursed  death  of  the  holy  Christ  we  read  most 
clearly  God's  wrath  against  all  sin,  and  our  own  guilt. 
This  is  the  testimony  of  successful  missionary  labor,  from 
Paul's  preaching  in  Corinth  and  Ch.  Henry  Rauch's  story 
of  the  crucified  Saviour  among  the  Mohican  Indians  at 
Shekomeko  (in  1740),  to  the  present  day.  Nevertheless, 
most  men  do  not  at  once  understand  the  significance  of  the 
death  of  Christ  and  remain  indifferent  toward  the  Gospel 
of  love,  unless  it  is  mingled  with,  or  preceded  by  the  stern 
demands  of  the  law. 

As  in  the  general  preparation  of  humanity  the  law  served 
as  a  "school  master"  to  lead  to  Christ,  so  with  individual 
men  the  law's  demand  must  first  break  the  natural  in- 
difference of  the  human  heart.  We  conclude,  therefore, 
that  the  law  is  a  necessary  factor  in  preparing  the  sinner 


PART    FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


155 


for  repentance,  but  the  Gospel  of  the  crucified  Saviour  com- 
pletes this  preparation.  Repentance  conies  not  without  the 
law,  hut  by  the  Gospel. 

Chapter  XXX.  Faith. 

1.  The  Need  of  Faith. 

The  need  of  faith  in  God  and  in  his  promise,  in  order  to 
receive  a  share  in  the  divine  offer  of  salvation,  is  frequently 
set  forth  in  the  Bible.  The  exalted  position  of  the  patriarch 
Abraham,  the  "father  of  all  believers,"  is  declared  to  be 
due  to  the  strong  faith  which  he  manifested.  Psalmist  and 
Prophet  unite  in  the  testimony,  that  without  faith  it  is  im- 
possible to  please  God.  Compare  Psalm  78 :22,  "Anger 
came  up  against  Israel,  because  they  believed  not  in  God 
and  trusted  not  in  his  salvation;"  Isaiah  7:9,  "If  ye  will 
not  believe,  surely  ye  shall  not  be  established;"  and  Hab. 
2  :4,  "But  the  just  shall  live  by  his  faith." 

In  the  New  Testament  proclamation  of  salvation,  the 
call  to  repentance  is  closely  linked  with  the  exhortation  to 
believe  in  him  whom  God  has  sent  to  be  the  Saviour  of  men. 
In  Christ's  own  teaching,  faith  in  himself  and  in  his  Gospel 
was  declared  to  be  the  special  work  which  God  required  of 
man  (John  6:29),  and  the  apostles,  with  one  accord,  make 
this  faith  the  unalterable  condition  of  personal  salvation. 
Pom.  1:16:  "The  Gospel  (of  Christ)  is  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth;"  I  John  5:10, 
etc. 

Faith  and  repentance  belong  together,  as  parts  of  the 
same  act,  the  act  of  conversion,  and  repentance  toward  God 
involves  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (Acts  20:21.) 

2.  The  Elements  of  Faith. 
Faith,  like  religion  in  general,  has  a  subjective  and  an 
objective  aspect.    As  a  subjective  energy,  it  is  not  limited 
to  one  or  the  other  mental  faculty  of  man,  but  involves  the 


156 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


exercise  of  all  of  them.  It  consists  of  three  elements.  It  is  a. 
An  intellectual  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  man's  sinfulness  and 
dependence  upon  Christ,  b.  An  interest  in  the  person  or 
thing  in  which  we  believe,  viz.,  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Saviour,  c.  A  trust  in  the  object  of  our  faith  and  a  conse- 
quent surrender  of  the  heart  to  Christ  and  a  reception  of  his 
pardon  and  spiritual  life.  Thus  faith  concerns  the  under- 
standing, the  sentiment  and  the  will.  If  James  in  his  epistle 
speaks  of  a  faith  which  the  devils  also  have  and  tremble, 
apparently  limiting  the  idea  of  faith  to  the  understanding, 
he  merely  refers  to  a  misunderstanding  of  Christian  teach- 
ing, common  enough  in  his  day,  as  also  in  ours.  Saving  faith 
certainly  involves  a  firm  trust  and  an  interest  of  the  heart, 
as  the  center  of  man's  personality. 

The  only  definition  of  faith  given  in  the  New  Testament, 
viz.,  Heb.  11 :1,  "Faith  is  the  assurance  of  things  hoped  for, 
the  proving  of  things  not  seen,"  shows  that  it  means  a 
laying  hold  of  something  which  cannot  be  obtained  by 
sensuous  perception  or  logical  reasoning.  It  is  a  moral  act 
which  includes  the  willingness  to  accept  the  Saviour  and 
the  salvation  which  is  offered  in  him.  We  are  saved  by  his 
grace,  but  faith  is  the  hand  which  receives  the  grace  of  God. 
Faith  has  no  merit  in  itself ;  it  does  not  win  salvation  for  us. 
It  is  valuable  not  for  what  it  gives,  but  for  what  it  gets. 
3.  The  Object  of  Faith. 

In  Heb.  11 :1  the  general  scope  of  faith  is  declared  to  be 
"the  proving  of  things  not  seen,"  viz.,  the  creation  of  the 
world  by  the  word  of  God,  his  government  and  his  entire 
revelation  of  himself.  The  whole  truth  of  God  then,  so  far 
as  it  is  made  known  to  mankind,  forms  the  general  object  of 
religious  faith.  Under  this  head  may  be  comprised  all  the 
worship  of  God  which  devout  men  have  rendered  in  ancient 
and  modern  times,  even  outside  of  the  sphere  of  revealed 
religion.  Socrates,  Plato  and  Sophocles  had  faith  in  God, 
though  the  scope  of  their  faith  was  limited  to  God's  natural 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION.  157 

revelation  of  his  truth  and  grace.  Abraham  and  the 
children  of  Israel  had  faith  which  was  counted  to  them 
for  righteousness,  though  the  plan  of  salvation  was  not  yet 
made  fully  known  to  them.  All  such  faith  was  implicitly 
a  faith  in  Christ  and  would  become  a  conscious  trust  in  the 
Saviour,  when  made  known  to  them,  in  this  or  in  the  future 
world,  as  Christ  said,  in  Matth.  8:11,  "Many  shall  come 
from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  New  Testament  faith  differs  from  this  general  faith 
in  having  for  its  specific  object  Christ  and  his  salvation. 
The  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  embodiment  of 
the  revelation  of  divine  love  and  mercy,  constitute  the  one 
great  object  of  Christian  faith.  John  20 :31,  "These  are 
written  that  ye  may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God,  and  that  believing  ye  may  have  life  in  his  name." 
Accordingly  Christian  faith  is  a  trust,  a.  In  the  work  of 
Christ,  his  life,  suffering,  death  and  resurrection,  as  the 
ground  of  salvation,  b.  In  the  person  of  Christ,  as  the  God- 
man,  the  mediator  of  salvation,  our  exalted  Lord,  Master 
and  Friend. 

4.  The  Author  of  Faith. 
As  to  the  origin  of  saving  faith,  the  same  holds  good  that 
was  said  of  repentance,  viz.,  that  it  is  a  gift  of  God  that 
must  be  appropriated  by  man  to  be  acceptable  and  efficient. 
The  more  decisive  this  act  is  in  determining  the  destiny  of 
man.  the  more  certainly  such  saving  faith  must  be  of  divine 
origin,  must  be  God's  work  in  us.  On  the  other  hand,  how- 
ever, this  faith  can  be  pleasing  to  God  only  if  freely  ap- 
propriated by  the  human  heart  and  by  the  exercise  of  a  free 
human  will.  It  is  the  expression  of  personal  confidence  in 
the  revelation  of  the  redeeming  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ, 
our  Saviour.  God  gives  the  power  to  believe,  but  man  is 
free  to  take  or  to  refuse  this  power  (John  6:29). 


158 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTKINE. 


Chapter  XXXI.    Regeneration  and  Justification. 

1.  The  Change  of  Heart. 
Repentance  and  faith  combined  in  what  we  call  "con- 
version" produce  a  change  in  the  sinner's  condition  and 
relation  to  God,  which  is  represented  by  the  two  terms,  re- 
generation and  justification.  While  repentance  and  faith 
are  partly  divine  and  partly  human  acts,  this  change  of  the 
heart  is  exclusively  a  divine  work.  It  is  the  divine  aspect 
of  that  operation  which,  viewed  from  the  human  side,  is 
termed  conversion ;  it  is  God  turning  the  soul  to  Himself. 
This  fact  is  brought  out  clearly  by  the  term  regeneration. 
For  men  cannot  beget  themselves,  nor  are  we  ever  in  Holy 
Scripture  exhorted  to  do  so,  while  we  are  urged  to  repent 
and  believe.  But  this  change  of  heart  and  of  the  relation 
between  the  human  heart  and  God,  again  presents  a  two- 
fold aspect,  as  expressed  by  the  two  words:  Regeneration 
and  justification,  the  one  marking  the  ethical,  the  other  the 
judicial  side  of  the  same  act.  We  find  that  the  Apostle 
John  emphasizes  more  the  ethical  or  creative  aspect,  using 
frequently  the  terms  "born  again"  and  "cleansed  from  sin," 
or  "fellowship  with  Christ,"  whereas  Paul  lays  stress  on  the 
judicial  phase.  The  terms  most  often  occurring  in  his  let- 
ters are  "justification,  forgiveness  and  righteousness." 

2.  Regeneration. 

When  the  sinner  by  repentance  and  faith  has  been 
brought  to  that  state  of  willingness  which  accepts  the  offer 
of  divine  grace  unconditionally,  the  Holy  Spirit  by  an  act 
of  divine  power  exerts  such  an  influence  upon  the  soul  of 
man  as  to  virtually  make  him  a  new  creature.  This  is  ac- 
complished through  a  personal  and  organic  union  with 
Christ,  the  Redeemer,  by  which  Christ  enters  into  the  soul 
and  the  believer  shares  in  the  merits  of  Christ's  life,  death 
and  resurrection. 

The  figure  of  a  birth  is  employed  in  order  to  indicate  the 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


159 


absolute  newness  of  the  relation  and  condition  of  the  regen- 
erate, and  the  principle  of  the  new  life-power  that  is  com- 
municated by  fellowship  with  Christ.  Regeneration  is  not 
a  physical  change,  but  the  giving  of  a  new  direction  or 
tendency  to  the  faculties  and  powers  of  man.  The  believer's 
life  is  no  longer  self-centered  and  sin  is  no  longer  the  govern- 
ing principle.  The  sinner  is  transformed  into  a  child  of  God. 
The  old  sinful  self  gives  place  to  a  new  self  which  has  its 
center  and  life  in  God.  Compare  John  1 :12,  13 :  "As  many 
as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children 
of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name:  which  were 
born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will 
of  man,  but  of  God ;"  and  I  Peter  1 :3  :  "Blessed  be  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  according  to  his 
great  mercy  begat  us  again  unto  a  living  hope,  by  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead." 

3.  Justification. 

The  doctrine  of  justification  is  set  forth  briefly  by  the 
Apostle  Paul  in  Eom.  3:22-26,  in  these  words:  "Now  a 
righteousness  of  God  hath  been  manifested  through  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  unto  all  them  that  believe ; .  .  .  being  justified 
freely  by  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus:  whom  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through 
faith,  by  his  blood,.  .  .that  he  might  himself  be  just  and  the 
justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus."  As  thus  defined, 
justification  is  a  judicial  act  by  which  God,  on  account  of 
Christ,  to  whom  the  sinner  is  united  by  faith,  declares  that 
sinner  free  from  guilt  and  acquitted.  God  acquits  the  un- 
godly who  believe  in  Christ,  and  declares  them  just  on  the 
ground  of  what  Christ  has  done  for  them. 

It  is  because  the  sinner  in  childlike  trust  has  cast  himself 
upon  the  grace  of  God  and  Christ,  that  God  can  see  him  as 
being  one  with  Christ,  and  in  Christ,  and  for  Christ's  sake 
forgives  his  sin,  as  Paul  writes  to  the  Ephesians :  "In  whom 
we  have  our  redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness 


160 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


of  our  trespasses,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace"  (Eph. 
1:7).  This  justification  and  forgiveness  of  sin  carries  with 
it  reconciliation  and  peace  with  God,  a  free  access  to  the 
throne  of  grace  and  the  assurance  of  our  having  become 
children  of  God  and  heirs  of  salvation.  Compare  Eom. 
5 :1,  2,  "Being  therefore  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  through  whom 
also  we  have  had  our  access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein 
we  stand." 

4.  Justification  before  Sanctification. 
The  doctrine  that  justification  is  simultaneous  with  re- 
generation ought  to  be  guarded  against  the  error  of  the 
Roman  Church,  that  the  sinner  must  first  become  righteous, 
before  he  can  be  declared  righteous  and  that  to  this  end  he 
must  cooperate  in  bringing  about  his  justification,  by  chang- 
ing his  heart,  as  the  Canons  of  Trent  declare :  "Justification 
consists  in  the  sanctification  and  renewal  of  the  inner  man 
by  the  voluntary  reception  of  God's  grace  and  gifts."  The 
great  obstacle  to  man's  being  restored  to  communion  with 
God  is  unforgiven  sin.  That  sin  must  first  be  removed  be- 
fore the  grace  of  God  can  take  possession  of  the  heart.  But 
how  can  the  sinner  be  declared  righteous,  when  he  is  not? 
How  can  he  be  justified,  before  he  is  sanctified?  Simply 
through  the  imputation  of  the  merits  of  Christ's  work.  By 
faith  the  sinner  becomes  so  identified  with  the  Saviour,  that 
he  shares  in  his  righteousness;  he  is  ideally  righteous,  be- 
cause his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness  (Rom.  4:9). 

5.  Union  with  Christ. 
The  immediate  result  as  well  as  the  inherent  cause  of 
regeneration  and  justification  is,  that  the  sinner  is  restored 
to  that  communion  with  God  which  belonged  to  the  original 
state  of  man,  as  a  state  of  grace.  It  is  the  Apostle  John,  in 
particular,  who  emphasizes  this  truth,  that  the  believer  has 
fellowship  with  God  in  Cbrist ;  e.  g.,  I  John  1 :3,  "Our  fellow- 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


163 


ship  is  with  the  Father  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 
But  the  Apostle  Paul  often  expresses  the  same  thought  in 
saying:  We  are  in  Christ  and  Christ  is  in  us.  "There  is 
therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus"  (Eom.  S:l).  "It  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  hut  Christ 
liveth  in  me"  (Gal.  2:20).  The  relation  between  Christ 
and  the  believer  is  represented  under  the  figures  of  head 
and  body,  husband  and  wife,  vine  and  branches,  the 
Saviour  himself  having  made  use  of  the  last  named  com- 
parison in  John  15:5,  "I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches: 
he  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much 
fruit,  for  apart  from  me  ye  can  do  nothing." 

This  union  with  Christ,  according  to  Scripture  teaching, 
is  virtually  a  fellowship  with  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  Spirit  represents  the  indwelling  of  the 
Godhead  in  particular  (Rom.  8:9,  "if  so  be  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  dwelleth  in  you"),  and  the  Father  the  primary 
cause  of  the  divine  self-communication  (John  14:23,  "If  a 
man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  word  and  my  Father  will  love 
him  and  we  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with 
him").  Christ  the  Saviour  is  living  in  his  disciples  through 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  at  the  same  time  interceding  for  them 
with  the  Father.  He,  the  God-man,  the  only  mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man,  must  remain  the  personal  center  of  our 
relationship  to  God.  But  through  him  and  on  account  of  his 
redemption  we  receive  the  adoption  of  sons,"  the  Spirit  him- 
self beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  children  of 
God"  (Rom.  8:16). 

6.  The  State  of  Grace. 
This  truth  is  of  practical  importance  also  for  the  right 
understanding  of  what  is  essential  in  the  condition  of  those 
who  have  personally  experienced  salvation,  and  are  in  the 
state  of  grace,  as  contrasted  with  the  state  of  the  unre- 
generate.  In  many  instances,  the  external  manifestations 
11 


162 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


of  conversion  are  not  very  perceptible.  Judging  by  these 
only,  it  may  sometimes  appear  doubtful,  whether  a  work  of 
grace  has  begun.  Some  can  point  to  the  day  and  the  minute, 
when  they  were  regenerated,  others  cannot  do  that.  The 
change  takes  place  without  any  striking  signs.  A  Christian 
child  whose  heart  is  open  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
from  the  earliest  infancy,  possesses  that  poverty  of  spirit, 
to  which  Christ  adjudges  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  which 
is  the  essential  part  of  repentance,  even  though  it  may 
lack  the  deeper  understanding  of  the  corruption  of  sin  and 
the  grief  over  it.  Such  a  child,  furthermore,  may  have  the 
substance  of  saving  faith,  a  simple  trust  in  Christ,  our 
Saviour,  without  the  clearness  which  belongs  to  the  full- 
grown  faith.  Accordingly  such  a  child  can  and  does  make 
an  experience  of  saving  grace  and  of  the  change  of  heart, 
receives  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  yet  without  consciously  passing  through  the  regular 
stages  of  conversion,  as  before  described,  and  as  experienced 
by  those  who  grow  up  in  indifference  or  unbelief. 

The  majority  of  Christ's  own  disciples  may  have  been  led 
in  this  Johannean  way,  as  it  has  been  termed,  in  distinction 
from  the  Pauline  way  of  conversion,  in  which  each  stage 
is  distinctly  marked  by  a  special  experience.  If  the  apostolic 
writings  contain  fewer  instances  of  this  kind  (see,  however, 
II  Tim.  1:5  and  3:15),  the  reason  is  apparent,  viz.,  that  in 
those  days  there  was  as  yet  no  generation  of  Christian  chil- 
dren, trained  by  their  parents  and  by  the  Church,  "nurtured 
in  the  chastening  and  admonition  of  the  Lord"  (Eph.  6:4). 
The  latest  New  Testament  writings,  the  epistles  and  the 
gospel  of  John,  bear  ample  testimony  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
not  the  manner  or  method  of  conversion  which  is  essential, 
but  the  result,  viz.,  a  personal  appropriation  of  salvation 
which  proves  its  genuineness  by  a  living  communion  with 
Christ,  the  Saviour,  and  by  the  fruits  of  grace  and  peace 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


163 


which  grow  from  it.  I  John  5:12,  "He  that  hath  the  Son 
hath  the  life;  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  the 
life." 

Chapter  XXXII.    Sanctification  and  Conflicts. 

1.  The  New  Life. 
The  Christian  believer,  who  has  been  justified  by  grace, 
through  faith  in  Christ,  and  regenerated  by  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  lives  a  new  life,  the  life  of  sanctification. 
The  man  who,  through  his  union  with  Christ,  receives  for- 
giveness of  sin  and  peace  with  God,  is  thereby  also  delivered 
from  the  power  of  sin.  He  is  set  apart  for  God  and  right- 
eousness, cleansed  from  sin  and  consecrated  to  his  Lord  and 
Saviour.  His  body  has  become  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
(I  Cor.  6:19).  As  a  child  of  God,  in  principle,  he  is  sancti- 
fied. Compare  I  Cor.  1 :2,  "Unto  the  Church  of  God,  to  them 
that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be  saints."  But 
sanctification  differs  from  regeneration  as  growth  does  from 
birth.  It  is  the  continuation  of  the  work  begun  in  regenera- 
tion, the  continuous  operation  of  the  Holy  Sprit  in  the  be- 
liever, effecting  a  gradual  renewal  and  reformation  of  the 
whole  life  of  man  and  of  all  his  faculties.  The  believer  is 
a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  all  things  have 
become  new,  his  disposition,  his  motives  and  his  hopes.  In- 
stead of  living  only  for  earth  and  time,  he  lives  for  heaven 
and  eternity,  as  Paul  says  in  Gal.  2  :20,  "The  life  which  I 
now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God, 
who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me." 

2.  Conflicts. 

This  new  life  of  sanctification,  however,  is  not  a  course  of 
unimpeded  progress  toward  the  goal  of  perfection.  There 
remain  tendencies  to  evil  within  the  believer  and  tempta- 
tions without  which  must  be  overcome.  In  fact,  there  are 
now  two  natures  bound  up  in  one  and  the  same  person, 


164 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


which  the  apostle  terms  the  old  and  the  new  man  (Eph. 
4:22-24)  or  the  flesh  and  the  spirit  (Gal.  5:17),  and  which 
are  utterly  opposed  to  each  other.  Christian  sanctification 
is  not  a  simple  process  of  spontaneous  evolution,  hut  an 
active  contest,  a  warfare  against  the  sinful  nature  within 
and  the  power  of  evil  without.  The  exhortation  is  ad- 
dressed to  them :  "Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling;  for  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to 
will  and  to  work  for  his  good  pleasure"  (Phil.  2:12,  13). 

The  three  last  petitions  of  the  Lord's  prayer  make  reference 
to  this  conflict :  "forgive  us  our  trespasses,  lead  us  not  into 
temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil."  James  in  his  epistle 
addressing  "beloved  brethren,"  writes:  "Wherfore  put- 
ting away  all  filthiness  and  overflowing  of  wickedness  re- 
ceive with  meekness  the  implanted  word.  Be  ye  doers  of 
the  word  and  not  hearers  only,  deluding  your  own  selves" 
(James  1:21,  22)  and  even  the  Apostle  John,  in  spite  of  the 
idealistic  standpoint  which  he  occupies,  speaks  of  a  conflict 
as  unavoidable  in  the  life  of  the  believer,  when  he  says :  "If 
we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves.  .  .if  we 
confess  our  sin,  he  is  faithful  and  righteous  to  forgive  us 
our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness" 
(I  John  1:8,  9). 

But  most  of  all  does  Paul  deal  with  this  conflict  between 
the  flesh  and  spirit,  the  old  and  the  new  man,  saying,  "For 
the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against 
the  flesh;  for  these  are  contrary  the  one  to  the  other,  that 
ye  may  not  do  the  things  that  ye  would"  (Gal.  5:17);  and 
"But  now  put  ye  also  away  all  these:  anger,  wrath,  malice, 
railing,  shameful  speaking  out  of  your  mouth ;  lie  not  one  to 
another;  seeing  that  ye  have  put  off  the  old  man  with  his 
doings,  and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is  being  re- 
newed unto  knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created 
him"  (Col.  3:8-10).  These  terms  indicate  that  the  struggle 
is  not  merely  against  the  weakness  of  flesh  and  blood  which 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION.  165 

must  be  overcome,  but  against  deep-rooted  besetting  sins  tbat 
still  remain  in  tbe  bearts  and  lives  of  tbe  regenerate.  He 
admonisbes  bis  "son  in  tbe  faitb"  Timothy,  to  flee  tbese 
tbings  and  to  "figbt  tbe  good  figbt  of  tbe  faitb."  He,  fur- 
thermore, exborts  tbe  Epbesians  to  put  on  tbe  wbole  armor 
of  God,  tbat  they  "may  be  able  to  stand  against  tbe  wiles 
of  tbe  devil.  For  our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesb  and  blood, 
but  against  tbe  principalities, .  .  .  against  tbe  spiritual  bosts 
of  wickedness"  (Epb.  6:12). 

It  is  for  tbis  cause,  tbat  righteousness  and  peace,  tbougb 
tbey  are  a  present  possession  of  tbe  children  of  God,  are 
frequently  spoken  of  in  tbe  Epistles,  as  things  of  the  future 
and  tbat  the  believer  looks  forward  with  longing  desire  to 
the  time,  when  the  conflict  shall  be  ended  and  the  victory 
gained. 

3.  Progress  in  Sanctification. 
This  testimony  of  tbe  Scriptures  is  fully  corroborated  by 
tbe  experience  of  believers,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church.  They 
tell  us  of  hard  conflicts  with  sin  in  their  Christian  life  and 
of  their  ardent  longing  for  the  final  victory.  They  feel  that 
tbey  still  have  need  of  daily  forgiveness  for  daily  sins  and 
that  as  long  as  they  live  here  on  earth  tbey  remain  im- 
perfect. But  this  confession  does  not  conflict  with  an 
earnest  striving  after  holiness.  In  spite  of  many  temporary 
defeats,  the  life  of  the  child  of  God  is  essentially  a  vic- 
torious warfare.  There  is  no  real  duality  of  nature  in  the 
regenerate,  demanding  equal  recognition.  Tbe  new  nature 
of  the  Christian  believer  alone  has  a  right  to  exist,  while  the 
old  sinful  nature  is,  by  right,  crucified  with  Christ  and 
dead.  In  this  sense,  the  Apostle  John  can  write:  "Whoso- 
ever is  begotten  of  God  doeth  no  sin,  because  his  seed 
abidetb  in  him;  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  be  is  begotten 
of  God"  (I  John  3:9),  although  he  has  testified  before,  in 
the  same  epistle:  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  de- 
ceive oureslves."    The  child  of  God  as  such  cannot  commit 


166 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


sin,  cannot  wilfully  and  intentionally  live  in  sin.  The  sins 
of  the  sanctified  are  not  truly  personal  sins  to  which  the 
heart  has  given  assent.  .  The  regenerate  nature  alone  is 
recognized  as  rightfully  dominant  in  the  believer's  life. 

4.  Times  of  Weakness. 
However,  there  occur  in  the  life  of  every  believer,  times 
of  special  weakness,  when  his  spiritual  nature  appears  to  be 
paralyzed,  when  he  is  conscious  of  the  sinfulness  of  certain 
thoughts,  words  or  actions,  yet  powerless  to  resist  the  temp- 
tation. From  the  practical  point  of  view,  at  such  times,  the 
regenerate  differs  little  from  the  unconverted  man.  His 
condition  is  even  more  dangerous,  because  of  his  experience 
of  divine  grace  which  increases  his  responsibility.  But 
such  a  state,  as  it  is  abnormal,  is  generally  of  short  dura- 
tion. 

To  determine  by  rule,  what  sins  a  child  of  God  may  be 
liable  to  fall  into,  at  such  a  period  of  spiritual  disease,  is 
impossible.  The  New  Testament  records  a  "dissimulation" 
of  Peter,  after  the  day  of  Pentecost  (Gal.  2:13),  unfaith- 
fulness on  the  part  of  Mark  (Acts  15:38),  selfishness  among 
the  companions  of  Paul  (Phil.  2:21),  gross  immorality  of  a 
member  of  the  Corinthian  Church  (I  Cor.  5:1),  and  a  biting 
and  devouring  one  another  among  the  Galatian  Christians 
(Gal.  5:15).  What  are  usually  termed  gross  sins,  are  not 
always  the  most  dangerous.  But  the  common  characteristic 
of  sins  thus  committed  by  the  regenerate  is  that  they  spring 
from  spiritual  weakness  and  from  a  partial  ignorance,  rather 
than  from  wilful  self-abandonment. 

This  weakness  and  ignorance  must  be  healed  by  penitent 
faith  and  a  new  measure  of  divine  grace  and  light,  so  that 
the  final  outcome  of  such  "backsliding,"  as  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  has  called  it,  may  be  an  actual  progress  in  Chris- 
tian life  and  experience.  For  it  will  bring  a  deeper  in- 
sight into  the  danger  of  being  careless  and  the  need  of  great- 
er watchfulness,  together  with  a  fuller  realization  of  the 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


167 


hatefulness  of  sin  and  our  absolute  dependence  upon  the  grace 
of  God.  The  more  the  spiritual  nature  in  the  believer  grows 
in  strength,  the  more  the  remaining  evil  will  be  confined 
to  the  external  parts  of  man's  being,  without  affecting  the 
center  of  his  life.  Sin  will  appear  more  and  more  as  a 
burden,  a  suffering  which  the  believer  has  to  bear,  not  as 
something  that  he  is  in  sympathy  with  or  desires.  The 
ideal  to  be  attained  is  to  become  like  Christ  who  bore  the 
sin  of  the  world  in  his  body,  though  it  was  not  his  own  sin. 

5.  Stages  of  Spiritual  Growth. 

The  spiritual  life  of  the  believer  presents  a  variety  of 
phases  and  stages  of  development.  Some  Christians 
progress  further  and  with  more  rapid  strides  on  the  road  of 
sanctification  than  others.  'Not  all  have  the  same  capacity 
for  spiritual  growth  and  not  all  make  the  same  use  of  their 
opportunities.  The  general  course,  however,  is  the  same  in 
all  believers.  St.  Paul  marks  two  successive  stages,  which 
he  terms:  babes  or  infants  {yifnioi)  and  perfect,  carnal  and 
spiritual,  the  weak  and  the  strong.  St.  John  distinguishes 
three  classes,  viz.,  children,  young  men  and  fathers  in  Christ 
(I  John  2:12-14).  The  "babes"  of  Paul  and  the  "children" 
of  John,  possess  what  every  child  of  God  must  have,  viz., 
a  saving  trust  in  the  Redeemer  and  a  beginning  of  spirit- 
ual life,  but  they  lack  as  yet,  what  the  "young  men"  or  the 
"strong,"  have  gained,  spiritual  power  to  conquer  their  be- 
setting sins,  and  the  temptations  of  the  world  and  Satan. 
The  "fathers,"  or  the  "perfect,"  add  to  these  possessions  a 
clearer  apprehension  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
and  a  more  unreserved  consecration  (Coloss.  1 :9).  They  can 
say  with  the  apostle:  "For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to 
die  is  gain."  "Christ  is  all,  and  in  all"  (Col.  3:11)  has  be- 
come their  guiding  principle  and  rule  of  life. 

Another  way  of  designating  two  successive  stages  of 
spiritual  life  and  experience,  is  to  distinguish  between  the 
mere  general  possessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  being 


168 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


filled  or  "the  Infilling"  with  the  Spirit  (Acts  13:52).  Con- 
ditions for  making  this  second  experience  are:  Emptiness 
of  self  and  sin;  a  complete  surrender  and  acceptance  of  all 
that  God  has  offered  to  his  children  in  Christ.  The  bless- 
ings gained  thereby  are  defined  as :  "Spiritual  power,  victory 
over  sin,  Christ  and  the  Bible  made  more  real  to  the  be- 
liever, and  joy  and  assurance  which  were  not  experienced 
before." 

6.  The  Question  of  Sinless  Perfection. 

It  is  the  desire  and  the  duty  of  the  children  of  God  to  fol- 
low after  the  "sanctification  (A.  V.  Holiness)  without  which 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,  looking  carefully  lest  there  be 
any  man  that  falleth  short  of  the  grace  of  God"  (Heb. 
12:14,  15).  It  is  their  aim  to  become  perfect,  even  as  their 
heavenly  Father  is  perfect  (Matth.  5:48).  But  is  complete 
sanctification  ever  attained  in  the  present  life?  In  the  great 
revival  of  personal  religion  in  Germany  and  England,  dur- 
ing the  eighteenth  century,  the  Moravian  Brethren  were  in 
full  accord  with  John  Wesley  about  the  necessity  and 
privilege  of  the  Christian's  being  wholly  consecrated  to  God 
and  becoming  Christlike  in  act,  word  and  thought.  Yet  it 
was  this  very  point  on  which  Moravians  and  Methodists 
could  not  agree,  the  former  declaring  it  as  their  conviction, 
that  no  Christian  while  here  on  earth,  ever  can  attain  per- 
fection and  that  those  most  advanced  in  Christian  graces 
must  confess  themselves  still  to  be  "poor  sinners." 

Those  who  believe  in  sinless  perfection,  support  their 
belief  by  these  arguments:  a.  The  command  addressed  to 
Christians  to  be  perfect,  implies  the  possibility  to  attain 
perfection,  b.  The  promises  and  declarations  of  Scripture, 
such  as  I  Thess.  5:23,  "The  God  of  peace  himself  sanctify 
you  wholly;  and  may  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  pre- 
served entire,  without  blame;"  I  John  2:5,  "Whoso  keepeth 
his  word  in  him  verily  hath  tfhe  love  of  God  been  perfected. 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


169 


Hereby  know  we  that  we  are  in  him ;"  and  3  :6,  "Whoso- 
ever abideth  in  him,  sinneth  not;  whosoever  sinneth  hath 
not  seen  him,  neither  knoweth  him."  c.  The  consciousness 
of  not  having  committed  any  sin  voluntarily  for  some  time, 
as  Paul  writes  in  I  Thes.  2  :10,  "Ye  are  witnesses  and  God 
also,  how  holily  and  righteously  and  unblamably  we  be- 
haved ourselves  toward  you  that  believe." 

In  reply  to  this  claim  the  following  must  be  said:  a. 
While  we  may  not  deny  the  abstract  possibility  of  attaining 
perfection,  the  actual  imperfections  of  the  supposedly 
perfect  Christians  are  clearly  manifest.  There  is  no  man, 
woman  or  child  living,  who  is  entirely  without  sin.  b.  The 
overwhelming  testimony  of  Scripture  confirms  this  fact, 
e.g.,  James  3:2,  "For  in  many  things  we  all  stumble;" 
I  J ohn  1 :8,  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  our- 
selves;" Phil.  3:12,  "Not  that  I  have  already  obtained  or 
am  already  made  perfect,  but  I  press  on  if  so  be  that  I  may 
apprehend  that  for  which  also  I  was  apprehended  by  Christ 
Jesus."  c.  The  most  mature  Christians  and  the  holiest  men 
and  women  who  ever  lived,  have  freely  confessed  their  im- 
perfection.  The  very  seal  of  relative  perfection  attained 
by  the  fathers  and  mothers  in  Christ  has  always  been  an 
humble  acknowledgment  of  their  lack  of  perfection. 

Chapter  XXXIII.  Good  Works. 

1.  Necessity  of  Good  Works. 

The  genuineness  of  saving  faith  and  of  the  change  of 
heart  is  attested  by  good  works,  which  are  the  fruits  of 
spiritual  life.  Accordingly  the  demand  for  good  works  is 
as  imperative  in  New  Testament  times,  as  it  was  for  the  Old 
Testament  believer,  with  this  understanding,  however,  that 
no  man  is  saved  by  his  good  works,  as  such,  and  that  no 
man  can  claim  any  merit  because  of  these  good  works.  The 
grace  of  God  alone  saves  to  the  uttermost,  not  our  good 


170 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


deeds,  for  "It  is  the  gift  of  God,  not  of  works,  that  no  man 
should  glory"  (Eph.  2:9).  Evangelical  doctrine  is  opposed 
to  that  teaching  of  the  Roman  Church  which  distinguishes 
between  common  duties,  that  are  incumbent  upon  every 
Christian,  and  between  good  works,  which  may  be  utilized 
for  supplementing  the  deficiencies  of  other  men.  Hence  the 
doctrine  that  the  good  works  of  the  Saints  constitute  a 
treasure  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church,  which  has  led  to  a 
churchly  traffic  in  "indulgences." 

Over  against  this  manifest  error,  the  Protestant  Churches 
rightly  emphasize  the  truth  that  our  best  works  are  stained 
with  sin  and  imperfection,  and  that  what  is  truly  good  in  us 
is  a  gift  of  divine  grace  and  does  not  entitle  us  to  a  special 
reward.  When  we  have  done  all  the  things  that  are  com- 
manded, we  are  still  "unprofitable  servants,"  at  best,  Who 
"have  done  that  which  it  was  our  duty  to  do"  (Luke  17  :10). 
But  it  is  also  true,  as  James  writes,  that  "faith  without  works 
is  barren"  or  dead  (James  2:20),  and  Christ  himself  has 
said :  "Let  your  light  shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see 
your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in 
heaven." 

2.  What  are  Good  Works? 

Good  works  are  defined  as  being  practical  manifesta- 
tions of  sanctification  in  various  lines  of  Christian  activity. 
In  the  sermon  on  the  Mount  the  duties  of  the  disciples  of 
Christ,  in  this  respect,  are  summed  up  concretely  under  the 
three  heads  of  almsgiving ,  fasting  and  prayer,  that  is  duties 
toward  our  fellowmen,  toward  ourselves  and  toward  God, 
or  consecration  of  our  property,  of  our  body  and  of  our 
soul  to  the  service  of  the  Lord.  Our  Saviour,  besides 
emphasizing  the  need  of  the  true  motive  and  spirit  of  such 
works,  warns  against  measuring  their  value  by  outward 
appearance  and  by  quantity,  rather  than  quality.  The 
ordinary  daily  duties  call  for  a  faithful  performance,  as 
much  as  the  extraordinary  occasions,  and  there  is  room  for 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION.  171 

good  works  in  the  common  routine  of  apparently  insignificant 
labors  and  conditions  of  domestic  and  business  life.  Proper- 
ly speaking,  there  is  for  the  Christian  believer  but  one  good 
work  to  perform,  viz.,  to  know  and  to  do  the  will  of  his 
Lord.  But  this  general  duty  presents  a  -positive  and  a  nega- 
tive aspect,  according  as  it  means,  on  the  one  hand,  an 
increase  in  spiritual  strength  and  activity  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  mortifying  of  the  old  sinful  nature  of  man. 

As  the  Old  Testament  law  required  of  every  Israelite 
obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  exemplified  in  the  ten  com- 
mandments, so  the  New  Testament  enjoins  upon  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  the  duty  of  keeping  the  commandments  of 
Christ.  The  Saviour  himself  made  this  the  condition  of 
discipleship  (John  14:15).  It  is  not  the  slavish  obedience  of 
a  servant  that  is  enjoined,  but  the  cheerful  obedience  of  a 
good  child  or  a  friend.  See  John  15  :14,  "Ye  are  my  friends, 
if  ye  do  the  things  which  I  command  you,"  and  Gal.  4:7, 
"Thou  art  no  longer  a  bond-servant,  but  a  son,  and  if  a 
son,  then  an  heir  through  God."  Therefore  James  calls  it 
"the  law  of  liberty"  (James  1 :25),  because  it  requires 
nothing  but  an  obedience  inspired  by  love  and  gratitude. 
As  Christ  himself  proved  his  love  to  the  Father  by  doing 
his  will  and  accomplishing  his  work  (John  4:34),  so  the 
children  of  God  and  the  followers  of  Christ  desire  nothing 
better  than  to  show  a  loving  submission  to  the  will  of  God, 
in  all  that  they  are  and  do.  Such  sincere  consecration  of 
heart  and  hand,  naturally  includes  almsgiving,  temperance, 
piety  and  any  service  of  God  and  man,  that  may  be  re- 
quired by  circumstances. 

But  this  service  of  God  is  an  act  of  cheerful  willingness 
only  so  far  as  the  new  spiritual  nature  of  the  Christian  is 
concerned.  The  old  sinful  nature  rebels  against  it  and  this 
sinful  tendency  must  be  mortified,  if  the  good  work  which  is 
pleasing  to  God  shall  be  accomplished,  as  Christ  has  said: 
"If  any  man  would  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself 
and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me"  (Luke  9:23). 


172 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


For  although  this  mortifying  of  the  sinful  nature,  in 
principle,  has  taken  place  already  in  the  act  of  regeneration, 
it  needs  to  be  confirmed  by  daily  repetition.  The  chief  war- 
fare here  is  directed  against  our  besetting  sins  (Heb.  12  :1, 
"the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us"),  deeprooted  habits 
and  tendencies,  which  again  and  again  threaten  to  gain  the 
mastery  over  the  new  man.  The  more  enlightened  the  be- 
liever's conscience  becomes  by  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  more  clearly  will  the  spiritual  eye  detect  also  the  smaller 
stains  and  defects  which  in  the  beginning  of  sanctification 
were  scarcely  noticed,  and  the  struggle  against  these  seem- 
ingly lesser  sins  is  not  on  that  account  less  painful. 

The  most  mature  Christians  realize  most  vividly  the 
necessity  of  "resisting  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin" 
(Heb.  12:4),  because  they  learn  not  to  spare  the  dearest 
idols  of  their  sinful  nature  and  to  surrender  even  ap- 
parently innocent  enjoyments,  whenever  the  Lord  demands 
such  sacrifice.  What  the  child  in  Christ  is  willing  to  do, 
what  the  young  man  in  Christ  has  bravely  begun,  that  still 
remains  a  daily  task  for  the  father  in  Christ  to  accomplish, 
even  to  the  end  of  his  earthly  life. 

3.  Christian  Virtues. 
We  speak  of  Christian  virtues  and  graces  which  the  be- 
liever must  strive  to  acquire  and  the  apostolic  writings 
refer  to  them  extensively  and  frequently.  They  are  but  an 
amplification  of  the  one  requirement  of  doing  the  work  of 
God  by  a  loving  obedience  to  his  will.  Accordingly  they 
also,  naturally,  divide  themselves  into  positive  and  nega- 
tive forms.  As  the  ten  commandments  of  the  Old  Testament 
law  represent  so  many  phases  of  the  required  obedience  to 
the  will  of  God,  so  we  may  distinguish  ten  virtues,  grouped 
in  pairs,  which  comprehend  the  New  Testament  fulfilment 
of  the  law  of  Christ  with  regard  to  God  and  our  fellow-men, 
in  both  its  positive  and  negative  aspect.  To  the  former 
would  belong  such  graces  as  1.  Godliness  and  truthfulness. 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION.  173 

2.  Gentleness  and  kindness.  3.  Brotherly  love  and  sympathy. 
4.  Honesty  and  industry.  5.  Beneficence  and  liberality;  to 
the  latter :  6.  Watchfulness  and  soberness.  7.  Temperance  and 
purity.  8.  Humility  and  meekness.  9.  Contentment  and 
cheerfulness.    10.  Patienc-j  and  hope. 

Bightly  combined,  these  virtues  represent  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  human  faculties  and  energies  in  every  line  of 
work,  including  thought,  word  and  deed,  to  the  Lord  and 
to  his  service,  as  Paul  writes,  in  summing  up  the  Christian 
ideal,  in  Phil.  4:8,  "Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever 
things  are  honorable,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatso- 
ever things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatso- 
ever things  are  of  good  report;  if  there  be  any  virtue  and 
if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things." 

Chapter  XXXIV.    The  Standard  of  Holy  Living. 
1.  The  Teachings  of  the  Bible. 

If  the  sum  and  substance  of  sanctification  and  of  good 
works  is  to  do  the  will  of  God,  we  must  know  where  this 
will  of  God  is  made  known  to  the  Christian.  The  answer  to 
this  question  is  threefold.  God  has  revealed  his  will  a.  In 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  as  the  word  of  God.  b.  In  the 
personal  example  set  by  Christ  and  by  godly  Christian  men. 
c.  In  the  voice  or  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  within  the 
heart  of  the  believer,  who  applies  the  Bible  word  and  the 
Christian  example  to  the  individual  case.  A  combination 
of  this  threefold  witness  constitutes  the  rule  of  life  for  the 
Christian. 

The  will  of  God  has  been  revealed  to  men,  in  the  first 
place,  in  the  law  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testaments.  As 
to  the  Old  Testament  law,  Christ  has  taught,  that  not  "one 
jot  or  title  shall  pass  away,  till  all  things  be  accomplished" 
(Matth.  5:17).  The  commandments  of  the  Old  Testament, 
therefore,  in  so  far  as  they  are  an  exposition  of  the  will  of 
God,  are  not  abrogated.  There  was  in  the  "Mosaic  Law" 
much  that  was  purely  local.     The  civil  law  had  but  a 


174 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


temporary  value.  The  Council  of  the  Apostles  in  Acts  15 
expressly  declared,  that  it  "seemed  good  to  the  Holy 
Ghost"  and  them,  to  "lay  no  greater  burden"  upon  the 
Gentile  Christians  than  a  few  necessary  things.  As  to  the 
moral  law,  however,  while  the  form  was  transitory,  while 
the  symbols  and  ceremonials  have  been  fulfilled  in  Christ 
and  have  passed  away,  yet  its  spiritual  substance  abides.  It 
is  no  longer  the  Mosaic  law  as  such,  that  furnishes  the  rule 
of  holy  living,  but  the  unchanging  will  of  the  Lord  God, 
which,  under  the  Old  Covenant,  was  exemplified  in  the  law 
of  Moses  and  has  been  made  manifest  to  us  in  Christ  Jesus, 
as  John  writes :  "The  law  was  given  through  Moses ;  grace 
and  truth  came  (into  existence)  through  Jesus  Christ" 
(John  1 :17).  The  Old  Testament  commandments,  to  a  large 
extent,  are  of  the  nature  of  a  shadow  which  vanishes  before 
the  light  revealed  in  Christ.  Therefore  the  apostle  can  say: 
"Let  no  man  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of 
a  feast  day  or  a  new  moon  or  a  Sabbath  day;  which  are  a 
shadow  of  the  things  to  come,  but  the  body  is  Christ's  (Col. 
2  :16,  17),  and  "Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  unto  righteous- 
ness to  every  one  that  believeth"  (Eom.  10:4). 

Even  the  ten  commandments  of  the  Decalogue  have  in 
their  form  something  of  a  transitory  character.  They  are 
only  prohibitive  or  negative,  saying:  Thou  shalt  not,  and 
they  command  a  worship  of  God  and  an  abstaining  from 
evil  simply  on  the  ground  of  God  being  the  creator  of  the 
universe  and  the  Saviour  of  Israel.  The  love  of  God  which 
has  been  manifested  to  us  in  the  work  of  redemption,  was 
not  revealed  to  them  of  old.  Accordingly,  man's  obedience  to 
these  commandments  coul  1  not  then  be  based  upon  the  grate- 
ful love  of  a  pardoned  sinner;  and  the  love  to  the  neighbor, 
as  enjoined  in  Lev.  19  :18,  was  not  yet  the  love  of  a  child  of 
God  for  fellowmen,  as  members  of  the  same  household  of 
God,  as  John  writes:  "Whosoever  loveth  him  that  begat 
loveth  him  also  that  is  begotten  of  him.    Hereby  we  know 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


175 


that  we  love  the  children  of  God,  when  we  love  God  and  do 
his  commandments"  (I  John  5:1,  2). 

Nevertheless,  as  a  summary  of  the  moral  law,  as  revealing 
the  divine  will  for  Israel,  the  "Decalogue"  must  always 
remain  a  standard  of  holy  living  which  only  needs  to  be 
read  and  understood  in  the  light  of  the  New  Testament. 
Compare  Christ's  teaching  in  the  sermon  on  the  Mount: 
"Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  to  them  of  old  time:  Thou 
shalt,  etc.  But  I  say  unto  you .  .  . ,"  and  Paul  in  Romans 
13  :8,  9,  "For  he  that  loveth  his  neighbor  hath  fulfilled  the 
law.  For  this,  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,  Thou  shalt 
not  kill,  Thou  shalt  not  steal,  Thou  shalt  not  covet,  and  if 
there  be  any  other  commandment,  it  is  summed  up  in  this 
word,  namely,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

In  the  New  Testament  we  find  no  code  of  laws,  no  formu- 
lated system  of  ethics  extending  over  all  the  details  of 
every  day  life.  But  Christ  and  his  apostles  have  laid  down 
the  guiding  principles  for  personal  conduct  and  social  rela- 
tions, which  only  need  to  be  applied  to  the  various  condi- 
tions of  life,  in  order  to  direct  our  course  into  a  knowing 
and  doing  of  the  will  of  God.  Thus  the  Christian  believer, 
who  is  in  possession  of  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ments, has  double  cause  to  say  with  the  Psalmist:  "Thy 
word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  path" 
(Ps.  119:105). 

2.  Personal  Example. 
Our  Saviour,  furthermore,  has  taught  the  will  of  God  by 
his  own  life,  which  furnishes  a  complete  pattern  for  a  Chris- 
tian walk  and  conversation.  Christians  are  to  think,  to 
speak  and  to  act  in  the  same  spirit  that  animated  his  words 
and  deeds.  His  holy  and  spotless  life  shows  us  how  to  live. 
Not  that  we  can  exactly  follow  his  specific  example,  in  all 
respect,  because  he  stood  in  a  unique  relation  to  man  and 
God,  but  we  can  learn  from  him  what  he  would  have  us  do. 
Compare  I  John  2 :6,  "He  that  saith  he  abideth  in  him, 


176 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


ought  himself  also  to  walk  even  as  he  walked,"  and  I  Pet. 
2:21,  "Leaving  you  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his 
steps." 

In  a  similar  manner,  though  with  limitations,  examples 
of  holy  living  are  offered  to  the  believer  in  the  lives  of  the 
patriarchs,  prophets  and  apostles,  in  the  devout  men  and 
women  of  the  Bible,  notably  in  St.  Paul,  of  whom  we  know 
most.  To  a  more  limited  degree,  the  fathers  of  the  Christian 
Church,  the  founders  of  the  various  denominations,  of  con- 
gregations and  societies,  may  serve  to  the  members  as  guides 
and  patterns  of  Christian  life,  worthy  of  imitation.  "Re- 
member them  that  had  the  rule  over  you,  which  spake  unto 
you  the  word  of  God ;  and  considering  the  issue  of  their  life, 
imitate  their  faith,"  Heb.  13  :7.  Finally,  the  spiritual  heads 
of  a  Christian  community,  the  pastor  and  the  elders  of  the 
Church,  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  a  Christian  family,  all 
these  may  and  should  be  living  expositors  of  the  will  of 
God,  always  provided,  that  no  human  authority  can  take 
precedence  of  the  clear  testimony  of  the  Bible  and  that  no 
human  ideal  can  supersede  Christ,  the  only  absolute  exemp- 
lar of  perfection. 

3.  The  Testimony  of  the  Spirit. 
The  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who,  through  the  medium  of 
an  enlightened  conscience,  explains  and  applies  to  us  both 
the  written  Word  and  the  personal  example,  constitutes  the 
third  standard  or  rule  of  spiritual  life.  Without  the  Spirit's 
light,  the  Bible  remains  a  dead  letter,  insufficient  for  guid- 
ance through  the  variety  of  every  day  experiences.  (I  John 
2 :20,  "Ye  have  an  anointing  from  the  Holy  One  and  ye 
know  all  things.")  This  inward  testimony  may,  at  times, 
lead  different  Christians  to  different  conclusions  with  regard 
to  the  true  intent  of  the  will  of  God.  If  so,  believers  may 
differ  from  each  other  as  to  various  matters  of  practical 
life  and  not  consider  themselves  bound  by  the  judgment  of 
their  fellow-believers.    "Who  art  thou  that  judgest  the  serv- 


PAET  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


177 


but  of  another?  to  his  own  lord  he  standeth  or  falleth.  Yea, 
he  shall  be  made  to  stand ;  for  the  Lord  hath  power  to  make 
him  stand,"  Rom.  14:4. 

If  believers  are  faithful  in  following  the  light  of  knowl- 
edge granted  to  them  for  the  time  being,  they  may  disagree 
from  the  views  of  other  Christians.  Such  disagreement  has 
apostolic  sanction  in  Phil.  3  :15,  "If  in  anything  ye  are  other- 
wise minded,  even  this  shall  God  reveal  unto  you;  only, 
whereunto  we  have  already  attained,  by  that  same  rule  let 
us  walk."  Experience  teaches  that  in  the  really  important 
matters  of  Christian  life  and  conduct,  a  faithful  searching 
of  the  Scriptures  and  a  careful  listening  to  the  voice  of  the 
Spirit  will,  generally,  result  in  a  remarkable  unanimity,  if 
not  in  theory  at  least  in  practice,  among  true  believers. 

4.  Special  Directions. 
In  special  cases,  when  an  important  step  must  be  taken, 
the  general  direction  of  the  Christian's  life,  as  given  through 
the  threefold  agency  just  mentioned,  may  not  seem  sufficient 
for  determining  the  course  to  be  taken.  If  so,  believers  may 
claim  the  privilege  of  children  of  God  to  ask  for  special 
directions  from  above,  as  James  writes:  "If  any  of  you 
lacketh  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God  who  giveth  to  all  liber- 
ally and  upbraideth  not;  and  it  shall  be  given  him.  But 
let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing  doubting"  (James  1  :5).  Such 
directions  were  given  in  the  days  of  the  early  apostolic 
Church,  sometimes  by  the  use  of  ordinary  and  sometimes  by 
extraordinary  means.  "When  Paul  and  his  companions  had 
been  forbidden  to  preach  the  word  in  "Asia"  and  had  come 
down  to  Troas,  "a  vision  appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night. 
There  was  a  man  of  Macedonia  standing,  beseeching  him 
and  saying,  Come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help  us"  (Acts 
16:9);  and  on  the  storm-tossed  ship,  sailing  to  Italy,  Paul 
could  announce  to  his  fellow-passengers:  "There  stood  by 
me  this  night  an  angel  of  the  God  whose  I  am,  whom  also 
12 


178 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


I  serve,  saying,  Fear  not,  Paul:  thou  must  stand  before 
Caesar,  and  lo,  God  hath  granted  thee  all  them  that  sail 
with  thee"  (Acts  27:23,s24). 

Many  testimonies  of  similar  directions,  through  natural  or 
supernatural  occurrences,  for  the  guidance  of  the  Church  and 
of  individual  Christians,  have  continued  to  be  given  to  the 
present  day.  Frequently  the  desired  clearness  as  to  the 
course  of  action  to  be  followed  is  given  by  a  special  degree 
of  cheerfulness  for  doing  the  work  which  is  to  be  done.  Care 
must  be  taken,  however,  that  the  momentary  and  personal 
feeling  does  not  run  contrary  to  the  plain  teaching  of  Scrip- 
ture or  the  clear  voice  of  the  Spirit. 

The  example  of  the  apostles  in  Acts  1 :24,  in  using  the  lot 
to  decide  who  of  the  apostles  should  take  the  place  of  Judas, 
as  one  of  the  Twelve,  and  numerous  instances  from  the  Old 
Testament,  have  led  many  Christians  to  the  employment 
also  of  this  special  agency  for  ascertaining  the  will  of  God 
under  certain  circumstances.  When  used  in  childlike  faith 
and  with  earnest  prayer,  the  decision  of  the  lot  has  some- 
times proved  an  evident  blessing  to  the  Church  and  to  indi- 
vidual Christians.  But  such  special  direction  must  never 
be  sought  merely  as  a  cover  for  carelessness  or  in  unbelief. 
After  all,  cases  will  remain,  where  the  Lord  does  not  give 
the  desired  positive  direction  by  outward  signs  or  inner  voice, 
or  where  the  believer  does  not  feel  free  to  ask  for  special 
direction.  The  safest  way  then  appears  to  be  that  of  choos- 
ing the  course  which  requires  "the  most  of  Christian  faith 
and  of  self-denial  for  the  flesh." 

5.  The  Incentive  to  Holy  Living. 

The  question,  as  to  what  is  the  true  incentive  for  the  be- 
liever's doing  the  will  of  God  and  "following  after  right- 
eousness and  godliness,"  as  Paul  calls  it  (I  Tim.  6:11),  is 
doubtless  well  answered  by  saying:  Grateful  love  to  Christ, 
our  Redeemer,  is  the  best  motive  to  holiness.  It  is  true,  the 
apostle  several  times  speaks  of  fear  as  an  element  in  sanctifi- 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION.  179 

cation,  as  when  he  writes  in  Phil.  2 :12,  "Work  out  your 
own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling"  and  II  Cor.  7 :1, 
"Let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  defilement  of  flesh  and 
spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God."  Yet  the 
same  apostle  seems  to  exclude  all  fear  from  the  state  of 
grace,  calling  it  a  sign  of  bondage,  when  he  says:  "Ye  re- 
ceived not  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  unto  fear,  but  ye  re- 
ceived the  spirit  of  adoption  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father." 
Evidently  there  are  two  kinds  of  fear,  viz.,  the  fear  of 
reverence  and  the  slavish  dread  of  punishment.  The  child 
of  God  as  such  knows  but  the  fear  of  losing  Christ  and  his 
salvation.  Such  fear  is  quite  consistent  with  the  state  of 
grace,  because  it  is  identical  with  childlike  reverence  for  the 
will  of  God. 

In  the  beginning  of  Christian  life,  this  fear  may  yet  con- 
tain a  considerable  element  of  selfishness.  The  young 
Christian  is  afraid  not  only  of  losing  the  grace  of  Christ, 
but  also  of  the  judgment  and  of  being  cast  into  hell  fire. 
However,  the  more  he  progresses  in  sanctification,  the  more 
such  negative  fear  will  give  way  to  confidence  and  affection, 
as  John  writes:  "There  is  no  fear  in  love,  but  perfect  love 
casteth  out  fear."  (I  John  4:18).  The  fear  of  condemna- 
tion, as  well  as  the  mere  selfish  desire  to  enjoy  the  blessings 
of  heaven,  irrespective  of  truth  and  holiness,  belong  to  the 
things  that  must  pass  away. 

True  sanctification,  therefore,  is  the  fruit  of  the  love  of 
God,  "which  hath  been  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  through 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  (Rom.  5:5).  This  love  is  a.  Grateful  love 
for  mercy  received,  because  our  sins  were  forgiven  and  our 
transgression  is  healed,  b.  Personal  love  of  the  Saviour, 
who  not  only  loved  us  so  much  that  he  died  for  us,  but  who 
also  is  now  our  best  friend,  our  daily  helper,  our  advocate 
at  the  throne  of  God  and  our  only  sure  hope  for  the  future. 
c.  Love  of  right  and  truth  itself,  as  it  is  revealed  to  us  in  the 
will  of  God.    This  is  the  New  Testament  fulfillment  of  the 


180 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


ideal  proclaimed  in  the  119th  Psalm  as  the  desire  of  the  Old 
Testament  believer:  "Thy  testimonies  are  my  delight  and 
my  counsellors.  Thy  statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the 
house  of  my  pilgrimage.  O  how  love  I  thy  law!  it  is  my 
meditation  all  the  day.  Thy  testimonies  are  wonderful: 
therefore  doth  my  soul  keep  them,"  (w.  24,  54,  97,  129). 

Chapter  XXXV.  Prayer. 

1.  Meaning  and  Purpose  of  Prayer. 

All  exercise  of  religion  presupposes  prayer,  which  is  a 
universally  acknowledged  part  of  the  worship  due  to  God. 
It  is  not  exclusively  a  Christian  practice  but  is  connected 
with  almost  every  form  of  religious  belief.  It  is  man's 
approach  to  God  and  the  expression  of  his  adoration,  con- 
fession and  supplication  to  the  object  of  his  worship.  In 
particular,  however,  is  every  successive  stage  in  the  Chris- 
tian's experience  of  personal  salvation  connected  with  and 
conditioned  by  prayer.  While  the  objective  power  which 
animates  and  sustains  the  new  life  of  the  believer  is  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  there  can  be  no  personal  appro- 
priation of  the  divine  grace  and  life  except  through  prayer. 
Prayer  is  the  holding  out  of  the  hand  for  receiving  the  gift 
of  God,  the  breathing  of  the  divine  atmosphere  in  which  the 
believer  is  placed. 

The  primary  object  and  purpose  of  prayer  is,  therefore, 
not  that  of  being  a  moral  exercise  for  self-improvement  and 
edification,  a  sort  of  spiritual  gymnastics,  as  some  regard  it, 
nor  is  it  simply  the  natural  expression  of  religious  sentiment, 
but  it  is  a  communing  of  the  soul  with  God.  It  is  true,  much 
that  goes  by  the  name  of  prayer  is  meaningless  and  useless, 
as  when  the  prayer-mill  of  the  Tibetan  innumerable  times  re- 
volves the  sacred  words :  Om-ma-ni-pad-me-hum,  or  when 
Christians  (as  our  Saviour  said)  "use  vain  repetitions,  as 
the  Gentiles  do,"  even  though  they  pray  "the  Lord's  prayer," 
thinking  "that  they  shall  be  heard  for  their  much  speaking," 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION. 


181 


(Matth.  6:7).  Neither  is  it  a  real  prayer  to  God,  if  offered 
in  order  to  be  seen  or  heard  of  man,  for  a  show  of  piety 
or  of  ability,  and  to  win  the  praise  of  men.  "Verily,"  says 
Christ,  "they  have  received  their  reward,"  but  not  from  God. 

True  prayer  is  directed  to  God  and  not  to  man,  and  it  has 
nothing  else  in  view  but  our  need  and  the  grace  and  glory 
of  God.  It  is  a  sacred  duty  and  a  precious  privilege  of  the 
children  of  God  to  pray  every  where  and  at  all  times,  (I 
Thess.  5:17).  The  four  Evangelists  tell  us  that  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  while  on  earth,  was  in  constant  communion 
of  prayer  with  the  Father  in  heaven,  and  both  he  and  the 
apostles  exhort  the  believer  to  pray  frequently,  fervently 
and  perseveringly,  to  pray  in  the  hour  of  joy  and  of  afflic- 
tion, when  at  rest  and  while  at  work,  in  private  and  in 
public,  alone  and  in  company  with  fellow-believers  (Eph. 
6:18;  Phil.  4:6).  As  to  the  proper  attitude  in  praying, 
Scriptural  example  and  a  true  realization  of  the  meaning 
and  purpose  of  prayer,  direct  that  it  be  offered  either  stand- 
ing or  kneeling  and  this  rule  should  be  observed  also  in  the 
united  prayer  of  a  Christian  congregation,  except  in  cases  of 
infirmity  or  where  circumstances  make  this  attitude  difficult 
or  impossible.  The  too  general  custom  of  the  congregation 
remaining  seated  can  hardly  be  commended. 

2.  What  to  Pray  for. 
The  term  prayer  includes  a  fivefold  object  in  addressing 
God,  viz.,  a.  Worship  or  adoration.  "O  come  let  us  worship 
and  bow  down,  let  us  kneel  before  the  Lord  our  Maker," 
(Ps.  95:6).  "Worthy  art  thou,  our  Lord  and  our  God,  to 
receive  the  glory  and  the  honor"  (Rev.  5:11).  b.  Thanks- 
giving for  temporal  and  spiritual  blessings.  "Offer  unto 
God  the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving;  and  pay  thy  vows  unto 
the  most  high,"  (Ps.  50:14).  c.  Confession  of  sin  and  con- 
fession of  faith.  "I  said,  I  will  confess  my  transgressions 
unto  the  Lord,  and  thou  forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin," 
(Ps  32  :5)  :  "Thomas  said  unto  him,  My  Lord  and  my  God," 


182 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


(John  20:28).  d.  Petitions  for  temporal  and  spiritual 
blessings.  "In  nothing  be  anxious;  but  in  everything  by 
prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiving  let  your  requests 
be  known  unto  God,"  (Phil.  4:6).  "Truly  my  soul  waiteth 
upon  God;  from  him  cometh  my  salvation,"  (Ps.  62:1). 
e.  Intercessions  for  individuals  and  for  God's  people  in 
general.  "I  exhort,  therefore,  that  supplications,  prayers, 
intercessions,  thanksgivings  be  made  for  all  men,"  (I  Tim. 
2  :1).  "To  which  end  we  also  pray  always  for  you,  that  our 
God  may  count  you  worthy  of  your  calling  and  fulfill  every 
desire  of  goodness  and  every  work  of  faith,  with  power," 
(II  Thess.  1:11). 

Among  the  prayers  recorded  for  general  use,  in  the  Bible 
or  in  Prayer  and  Hymn  Books  of  the  Church,  some  repre- 
sent mainly  or  altogether  one  of  the  forms  of  prayer  just 
mentioned,  e.g.,  the  Te  Deum — worship  and  adoration ; 
Psalm  103  and  others — thanksgiving;  Psalm  51 — confession 
of  sin,  etc.  But  most  prayers,  both  private  and  public,  as 
is  natural,  combine  these  different  elements,  petitions  and 
supplications  being  especially  prominent.  As  to  the  sub- 
jects of  these  petitions  that  are  most  desired  and  prayed  for, 
the  unconverted  man,  if  he  prays  at  all,  will  probably  ask 
for  temporal  blessings  only,  for  preservation  in  danger  and 
deliverance  from  trouble,  for  health  and  wealth,  for  pleasure 
and  earthly  prosperity.  The  believer  who  has  learned  to 
know  that  the  most  needful  gift  is  the  grace  of  God  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  desires  this  gift  for  himself  and  others,  in 
preference  and  if  need  be  in  place  of  temporal  blessings 

This  order  of  placing  spiritual  and  eternal  interests  first 
and  earthly  or  temporal  needs  second,  is  observed  in  the 
prayer  which  Christ  taught  his  disciples  to  pray.  The 
"Lord's  Prayer"  is  a  model  prayer,  because  it  embodies  the 
principal  needs  of  the  individual  Christian  and  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  within  the  smallest  compass  of  words.  It  is  how- 
eve  r,  not  a  binding  formula,  nor  has  its  frequent  repetition 


PART  FOURTH  PERSONAL  SALVATION.  183 

as  such  any  special  merit.  Prayer,  as  little  as  breathing,  can 
be  bound  within  fixed  forms,  although  certain  definite  rules 
and  models  of  prayer,  especially  for  public  services,  have 
been  found  wholesome  and  necessary.  But  there  must  be 
some  variety.  Even  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  not  always  the 
best  expression  of  the  heart's  needs  and  aspirations.  It 
contains  only  petitions  and  no  thanksgiving,  and  it  does  not 
embody  the  New  Testament  plea,  "for  Christ's  sake."  It 
was  given  before  the  work  of  redemption  was  fully  accom- 
plished. 

3.  Prayer  in  the  Name  of  Jesus. 

The  Saviour  directed  his  disciples  to  pray  in  his  name. 
"Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do,  that 
the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  If  ye  shall  ask  anything  of  the  Father,  he  will 
give  it  you  in  my  name.  Hitherto  have  ye  asked  nothing 
in  my  name,  ask  and  ye  shall  receive,  that  your  joy  may  be 
full,"  (John  14:13  and  16:23,  24).  By  this  prayer  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  we  understand  a.  An  appeal  to  the  person 
and  work  of  Christ  as  thfi  ground  of  our  plea.  b.  A  prayer 
offered  in  spiritual  fellowship  with  Christ,  the  mediator 
between  God  and  man  and  our  intercessor  with  the  Father. 
The  triune  God  is  accessible  to  sinful  man  only  through 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour.  Hence  every  prayer  to  be  ac- 
ceptable must  be  offered  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  though  it  is 
not  necessary,  that  this  be  always  expressed  in  the  form  of 
address  or  in  the  appeal  "for  Christ's  sake." 

As  most  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  were  composed  before 
the  advent  of  the  Redeemer,  the  prayers  recorded  in  the 
Bible  are  generally  addressed  to  God  Almighty,  to  the  Lord 
(Jehovah)  or  to  the  Father,  not  to  Christ.  In  view  of  the 
gracious  revelation  of  salvation  granted  to  us  through  his 
Son,  however,  it  seems  most  appropriate  for  the  repentant 
sinner,  as  well  as  for  the  Christian  believer  in  general,  when 
conscious  of  his  need  of  divine  grace,  to  address  himself  to 


184 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


the  Saviour,  Christ,  "the  friend  of  sinners,"  the  mediator 
of  divine  grace,  our  inteicessor  with  the  father,  as  well  as 
the  head  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Compare  Acts  7 :59 ; 
II  Cor.  12 :8.  The  grateful  and  confident  prayer  of  the 
mature  Christian  and  the  united  prayers  of  the  Church  are 
suitably  addressed  to  the  Father,  who  through  Jesus  Christ 
has  become  our  father.  Ephes.  3  :14,  "I  bow  my  knees  unto 
the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  Acts  4:24. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  New  Testament  records  no  prayer 
addressed  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  represents  the  immanent 
rather  than  the  transcendent  revelation  of  God;  but  there 
can  be  no  valid  objection  against  this  form  of  address  also. 

4.  Hearing  of  Prayer. 

Prayer  in  the  name  of  Jesus  has  the  promise  of  a  divine 
answer.  The  believer  prays  relying  upon  Christ  and  in 
spiritual  union  with  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit  praying  within 
him  as  Paul  says:  "The  Spirit  helpeth  our  infirmity:  for 
we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought:  but  the  Spirit  itself 
maketh  intercession  for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be 
uttered,"  (Kom.  8:26).  A  prayer  thus  endorsed  cannot 
remain  unanswered.  But  not  every  prayer  is  a  prayer  in 
the  name  of  Jesus,  even  though  it  contain  the  words:  "for 
Christ's  sake."  Accordingly  the  promise:  "Ask  and  it  shall 
be  given,"  first  of  all,  does  not  apply  to  any  sinful  wish  or  to 
petitions  offered  in  unbelief  or  indifference.  Furthermore, 
Christians  sometimes  pray  for  things  which  are  not  best 
for  them  (Matth.  20:22,  II  Cor.  12:8,  9).  In  all  temporal 
concerns,  therefore,  and  even  with  regard  to  the  manner  in 
which  spiritual  blessings  are  expected,  the  Christian's  prayer 
must  follow  the  rule  which  Jesus  himself  observed,  when  he 
said:  "Not  mine  but  thy  will  be  done"  (Matth.  26  :39). 

Many  in  our  day  doubt  or  deny,  that  prayers  for  temporal 
good  can  have  any  effect  on  the  action  of  God  in  providence, 
because  they  think  God  can  and  will  never  change  the  course 
once  decreed  nor  the  working  of  natural  laws.    To  their 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH, 


185 


minds  all  such  prayer  is  useless,  a  mere  form,  as  Buslmell 
said,  "a  kiud  of  dumb-bell  exercise,  good  as  exercise,  but  never 
to  be  answered."  However,  the  Christian's  God  is  under  no 
other  necessity  but  that  of  his  own  will  and  freely  controls 
the  realm  of  nature  and  of  man.  The  men  of  the  Bible 
certainly  prayed  for  definite  temporal  gifts  and  results,  and 
the  experience  of  believers  confirms  the  conviction  that  such 
prayers  are  answered.  There  are  occasions,  when  a  Christian 
feels  that  he  may  ask  for  a  special  thing,  such  as  recovery 
from  sickness,  relief  of  want  or  the  fulfillment  of  some  spe- 
cial wish,  in  full  assurance  that  the  prayer  will  be  granted. 
Such  cases  are  rather  the  exception  than  the  rule.  Christ 
gave  to  his  disciples  power  to  heal  the  sick  by  prayer,  but  they 
made  rare  use  of  that  power.  The  Apostle  Paul  did  not  heal 
Timothy  who  often  had  "infirmities,"  nor  his  own  "thorn  in 
the  flesh."  He  counts  such  a  miraculous  power  of  prayer 
among  the  special  gifts  bestowed  upon  certain  persons  for 
the  purpose  of  advancing  Christ's  kingdom  and  thus  serving 
a  higher  end.  While,  perhaps,  many  Christians  in  our  day  do 
not  exercise  the  power  of  effectual  prayer  as  they  should,  the 
special  gift  of  faith  healing  appears  to  exist  sometimes  in 
persons  who  are,  otherwise,  not  faithful  nor  sanctified  and 
who  may  finally  be  rejected,  in  spite  of  having  done  great 
things  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Compare  Matth.  7  :22,  "Many 
will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  did  we  not  by  thy 
name  do  many  mighty  works?"  and  I  Cor.  13  :2. 

5.  Can  the  Departed  Pray  for  Us? 
We  are  not  postively  told  in  Scripture  that  the  blessings 
of  intercessory  prayer  are  limited  to  this  present  life.  The 
prayer  of  the  rich  man  in  Hades  (Luke  16)  and  the  parable 
of  the  unjust  steward  who  expects  to  be  received  by  his 
friends  in  "the  everlasting  tabernacles,"  have  been  taken 
as  implying  that  the  departed  can  pray  for  the  living.  It 
may  be  added  that  it  would  seem  unnatural  to  think,  that 
the  departed  believer  at  once  ceases  to  take  a  prayerful 


186 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


interest  in  the  cause  of  CLrist  on  earth,  while  the  Saviour's 
highpriestly  intercession  continues.  If  believers  are  to  judge 
the  world  together  with  Christ,  will  they  not  continue  to  pray 
with  him  for  the  saving  of  souls,  as  long  as  it  is  possible? 
However,  as  the  Bible  gi\es  no  positive  declaration  on  this 
point,  evangelical  doctrine  cannot  regard  it  as  well  establish- 
ed. We  are  not  authorized  to  implore  the  intercession  of 
the  saints  in  our  behalf,  much  less  can  such  intercession 
supersede  Christ,  or  open  a  door  to  heaven  other  than  the 
door  of  grace  and  faith  which  is  opened  by  the  Redeemer. 

6.  Prayer  for  the  Departed? 
Closely  connected  with  the  preceding  question  is  the  other, 
viz.,  whether  or  not  the  Christian  believer  may  intercede  for 
those  who  have  departed  this  life.  The  answer  depends 
largely  on  the  view  taken  in  regard  to  the  intermediate  state. 
So  much,  however,  is  certain  that  the  Bible  nowhere  directly 
enjoins  or  authorizes  such  prayer  for  the  departed,  least  of 
all  by  the  reading  of  soul  masses  and  requiems  for  the  benefit 
of  the  dead,  or  by  paying  money  to  Church  and  priest,  for 
the  redemption  of  a  soul  from  purgatory.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  simple  prayer  of 
intercession  for  a  departed  relative  or  friend  is  not  prohibit- 
ed in  Scripture.  Only  we  should  remember  that  those  who 
have  been  removed  from  our  world  and  association,  are  in 
the  hands  of  a  God  who  is  more  compassionate  and  merciful 
than  we  can  ever  be. 


Chapter  XXXVI.    Christian  Perseverance. 

1.  Can  a  Believer  Fall  from  Grace? 
A  disputed  question,  in  connection  with  the  duty  resting 
upon  every  Christian  to  "follow  after  sanctification,"  is, 
whether  or  not  a  believer  can  fall  away  and  be  lost?  The 
answer  depends  largely  on  the  meaning  given  to  the  term 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


187 


"believer.'"  When  taken  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  one  who 
confesses  the  name  of  Christ  or  who  professes  conversion, 
Scripture  and  Christian  experience  answer  in  the  affirmative: 
"A  believer  can  jail  from  grace."  For  Christ  himself 
warned  his  followers  to  Leware  of  apostacy  (Matth.  7 :21, 
John  8:31)  and  the  apostles  repeat  this  warning  in  unmis- 
takable language,  cautioning  the  believer  against  a  possible 
and  fatal  falling  away.  See  I  Pet.  1 :17,  "Pass  the  time  of 
your  sojourning  in  fear,  knowing  that  ye  were  redeemed, 
not  with  corruptible  things,"  etc. ;  I  Cor.  10 :12,  "Let  him 
that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall !"  and  Hebr. 
6 :4,  6,  "As  touching  those  who  were  once  enlightened  and 
tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift....,  and  then  fell  away,  it  is 
impossible  to  renew  them  again  unto  repentance." 

Some  would  limit  this  possibility  of  an  absolute  apostacy 
to  such  as  have  first  fully  tasted  the  grace  of  God  and  then 
committed  the  "sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,"  because  only 
a  continued  resistance  against  the  full  manifestation  of  divine 
grace  can  produce  such  hardening  of  the  heart,  that  the  fall- 
ing away  is  "without  repentance."  Others,  and  especially 
those  of  the  Calvinist  persuasion,  on  the  contrary,  hold  that 
the  regenerate  can  never  fall  from  grace,  because  the  life  of 
God  when  once  quickened  in  the  human  soul  cannot  die. 
Certain  passages  in  the  first  epistle  of  John  seem  to  support 
this  view,  viz.,  I  John  2  :19  and  3  :9,  "They  went  out  from 
us,  but  they  were  not  of  us ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they 
would  have  continued  with  us."  "Whosoever  is  begotten  of 
God  doeth  no  sin,  because  his  seed  abideth  in  him;  and  he 
cannot  sin,  because  he  is  begotten  of  God."  Yet  the  same 
apostle  who  teaches  that  he  who  falls  away  has  never 
been  a  child  of  God,  nevertheless  earnestly  warns  the 
believer:  "My  little  children,  let  no  man  lead  you  astray,  he 
that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous;  he  that  doeth  sin  is  of 
the  devil"  (I  John  3:7)  The  Apostle  Paul  not  only  fre- 
quently exhorts  his  readers,  not  to  lose  the  grace  of  God 


188 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


which  they  have,  but  mentions  cases  where  this  has  been 
done,  saying:  "Holding  faith  and  a  good  conscience  which 
some  having  thrust  from  them  made  shipwreck  concerning 
the  faith:  of  whom  is  Hymenaeus  and  Alexander"  (I  Tim. 
1:19). 

When  the  question  turns  on  what  may  be  expected  of 
God's  faithfulness,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  that  God  is 
both  able  and  willing  to  keep  us  from  falling.  The  good 
Shepherd  will  not  let  any  one  take  his  sheep  out  of  his  hand 
(John  10:28)  and  the  gifts  and  the  calling  of  God  are  with- 
out repentance  (Eom.  11:29).  St.  John  who  generally 
regards  human  affairs  from  the  view-point  of  final  results, 
properly  sums  up  the  course  of  spiritual  development  in  the 
declaration,  that  those  who  fall  away  never  were  true  children 
of  God.  But  from  the  ordinary  point  of  view  which  fol- 
lows the  Christian's  life  in  its  changing  aspects  of  increase 
and  decrease,  of  victories  and  defeats,  it  must  be  admitted 
that,  as  the  spiritual  life  grows  stronger,  it  may  also  grow 
weaker  and  may  even  die  again.  We  are  warranted  in  be- 
lieving in  a  preservation  of  the  believer  as  guaranteed  by 
the  power  and  love  of  God,  but  not  in  unalterable  "persever- 
ance of  the  saints."  There  are  examples  of  men  who  to  all 
human  appearance  at  one  time  were  children  of  God,  yet 
have  fallen  from  grace.  This  danger  diminishes,  as  sancti- 
fication  progresses,  but  it  does  not  disappear  altogether  until 
the  last  chain  that  binds  the  Christian  to  a  sinful  world, 
is  broken. 

2.  Groundless  Fears. 

Such  an  absolute  falling  away  as  is  referred  to  in  Hebr. 
6  :4-  6,  can,  however,  not  occur  by  a  man's  being  overcome 
of  sin  suddenly  or  unconsciously  as  it  were.  A  Christian 
may  fall  into  gross  sins  in  this  way,  but  the  sin  against  the 
Holy  Spirit,  which  is  absolute,  is  something  different,  is  a 
spiritual  suicide  which  results  from  continued  living  in  sin 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


189 


and  hardening  the  heart.  Accordingly,  men  who  really  fear 
that  they  may  have  committed  that  sin  show  by  this  very 
fear  that  their  soul,  or  thtir  heart,  is  not  dead.  There  may 
have  been  a  dangerous  approach  to  that  fatal  rejection  of 
the  grace  of  God.  A  frequent  yielding  to  temptation  may 
gradually  lead  to  a  willing  and  conscious  commission  of  sin, 
which  temporarily  knows  of  no  repentance.  But  if  at  any 
time  this  state  of  apostacy  and  service  of  sin  is  followed  by 
a  realization  of  the  wickedness  of  such  a  condition,  an  earnest 
regret  of  the  unfaithfulness  manifested  and  a  sincere  desire 
for  forgiveness,  the  comforting  promises  of  the  word  of  God 
will  eventually  restore  to  the  backslider  the  lost  sense  of  the 
grace  of  the  Saviour,  who  says :  "Though  your  sins  be  as 
scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be  red 
like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool." 

With  regard  to  those  who  show  absolutely  no  sign  of 
repentance,  it  is  not  for  us  to  decide,  whether  or  not  they 
may  have  committed  the  unpardonable  sin.  Even  where  for 
the  time  being  there  is  not  the  least  desire  for  deliverance 
from  the  slavery  of  sin,  but  on  the  contrary  a  reveling  in 
conscious  commission  of  evil  or  else  that  hopeless  despair 
and  the  "sorrow  of  the  world,"  of  which  the  apostle  writes 
that  it  "worketh  death"  (IlCor.  7:10),  no  man  should 
pronounce  judgment  over  a  fellow-man,  however  wicked  and 
hardened  he  may  seem  to  be. 

3.  Assurance  of  Future  Salvation. 

The  Roman  Catholic  teaching  regards  an  humble  un- 
certainty both  as  to  our  present  and  future  salvation  as  one 
of  the  Christian  virtues.  Protestant  Christians  believe  that 
it  is  possible  to  have  an  assurance  of  both.  But  neither  of 
these  can  be  based  upon  anything  that  man  has  or  does. 
Our  present  salvation  is  rot  assured  by  the  degree  of  sancti- 
fieation  which  we  have  attained,  nor  by  the  regular  use  of 
the  means  of  grace  which  we  may  enjoy,  nor  finally  by  any 


190 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


special  experience  of  divine  grace  that  has  been  made  in 
the  past. 

The  best  works  which  we  have  done  are  tainted  with  sin. 
The  means  of  grace  offered  by  the  Church,  such  as  baptism, 
holy  communion  and  attendance  at  divine  worship,  do  not 
have  a  magic  influence  to  make  our  personal  salvation  certain. 
The  experience  of  divine  grace  in  the  past  is  no  sure  pledge 
of  our  present  standing.  But  these  same  manifestations  of 
spiritual  life,  when  built  upon  the  foundation  of  an  humble 
trust  in  the  unchanging  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  do 
become  pledges  of  our  present  salvation  and  adoption  as 
children  of  God.  We  can  say  with  the  Apostle  John :  "We 
know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  because  we 
love  the  brethren"  and  "Hereby  know  we  that  we  dwell  in 
him  and  he  in  us,  because  he  hath  given  us  his  Spirit"  (John 
3:14  and  4:13). 

Essentially  the  same  assurances  are  given  us  concerning 
our  future  and  final  salvation.  It  rests  first  and  foremost 
not  upon  what  we  have,  are  or  do,  but  upon  the  unchanging 
faithfulness  of  the  divine  promises  pledged  to  us  in  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  our  Saviour.  Yet  these  promises  are  con- 
firmed by  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts  and  the 
victories  so  far  gained  over  the  temptations  of  world  and  sin. 
We  know  that  He  who  "began  the  good  work,"  will  not  leave 
it  unfinished,  but  "will  perfect  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ"  (Phil.  1 :6),  that  He  who  saved  us  in  the  past,  is  able 
to  "save  to  the  uttermost  them  that  draw  near  unto  God 
through  him"  (Hebr.  7:25),  and  that  He  who  created  even 
the  first  desire  to  be  saved  will  uphold  this  desire  and  cause 
it  to  prevail  to  the  end  (Luke  22:32).  In  this  sense, 
therefore,  future  salvatiou  can  be  to  believers  a  matter  of 
grateful  and  joyful  assurance,  even  as  it  was  to  the  Apostle 
Paul  in  Komans  8  :38,  39.  This  assurance,  though  at  times 
veiled  by  divers  trials  or  by  reason  of  human  unfaithfulness, 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


193 


will  at  other  times  rise  to  a  glorious  triumph ;  while  the 
fact  that  the  grace  of  God  does  not  work  irresistibly,  will 
preserve  in  the  child  of  God  that  humble  watchfulness,  which 
is  needed  against  any  carnal  security  and  which  will  con- 
stantly urge  him  on  to  make  his  calling  and  election  even 
more  sure  (II  Cor.  12  :9,  IT  Pet.  1 :10). 


lpart  jftftb — ^Tbc  Gburcb 


Chapter  XXXVII.    Origin  and  Nature  of  the  Church. 

1.  The  Need  of  Fellowship. 

While  the  primary  object  of  saving  grace  is  the  salvation 
of  the  individual  man,  thii  is  not  its  final  aim.  Christ  came 
to  establish  a  kingdom,  the  kingdom,  of  heaven  among  men 
and  this  divine  plan  meets  the  human  need  of  fellowship, 
both  for  the  true  enjoyment  of  life  and  for  the  benefit  derived 
from  combined  activity.  Man  is  a  social  being.  God  himself, 
the  eternal  ideal  of  perfection,  has  been  revealed  to  us  as  a 
Trinity.  The  human  race  was,  from  the  first,  constituted  a 
family  and  intended  to  grow  into  a  people,  and  a  state  or 
community.  Futhermore,  as  every  descendant  of  Adam 
shares  the  common  depravity  of  the  race,  so  he  also  has  a 
share  in  the  common  salvation  gained  by  Christ,  the  Son  of 
Man  and  our  brother.  God's  plan  includes  the  continued 
salvation  of  man  by  his  fellow-man. 

Accordingly  the  principle  of  fellowship  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  Christian  religion.  The  followers  of  Christ,  whatever 
their  position  in  life  may  be,  their  nationality  or  their  intel- 
lectual culture,  are  knit  together  by  a  common  bond  of  union. 
They  are  members  of  a  tody,  of  which  Christ  is  the  head. 
In  the  course  of  time,  the  spiritual  union  of  Christian  fel- 
lowship has  largely  been  replaced  by  outward  uniformity  of 
creed,  ritual  and  church  government  and  a  difference  of  stand- 
point has  developed  between  the  Catholic  and  the  Protestant 
Churches.  From  the  Catholic  view-point,  the  Church  comes 
first  and  the  individual  receives  salvation  only  through  the  me- 
diation of  the  Church,  ["Extra  Ecclesiam  nulla  salus,"]  while 
to  the  Protestant  the  Church  is  rather  the  union  of  individual 
believers.    The  Catholic  principle  is :  "Where  the  Church  is, 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


193 


there  is  Christ  and  Christians,"  the  Protestant :  "Where 
Christ  and  Christians  are,  there  is  the  Church."  But  the 
necessity  of  Church  fellowship  is  equally  recognized  from 
both  standpoints,  because  it  is  grounded  in  the  social  and 
religious  nature  of  man.  Only  through  fellowship  can  the 
individual  Christian  attain  to  a  deeper  apprehension  of  the 
truth,  as  it  is  revealed  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  Christian  fellow- 
ship is  the  necessary  field  for  the  exercise  of  vital  religion. 
This  need  has  been  supplied  by  the  founding  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

2.  The  Divine-Human  Character  of  the  Church. 

The  Church  is  not  a  mere  human  Institution  in  the  sense 
of  ordinary  organizations  and  associations  founded  by  men. 
For  it  was  founded  by  Christ,  the  God-man,  and  was  divine- 
ly endowed  by  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Jesus 
Christ  established  its  leading  principles,  ordained  its  solemn 
rites  and  appointed  its  first  officers.  The  actual  history 
of  the  Church  began  with  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  the 
Spirit  descended  upon  the  assembly  of  disciples  and  when 
Church-membership  was  given  by  the  rite  of  baptism.  The 
Church  is  not  the  same  as  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  it  is 
devoted  to  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom,  through  the 
preaching  and  teaching  of  the  Gospel.  The  kingdom  is  the 
end  and  the  Church  a  means  to  that  end.  It  is  divine  in  its 
origin  and  divine  in  its  aim.  It  supersedes  all  national  and 
social  distinctions  of  the  past,  recognizing  but  one  great 
division  among  men,  viz.,  those  who  believe  in  Jesus  Christ 
as  their  Saviour,  and  those  who  do  not.  The  Church  has 
the  promise,  that  it  shall  conquer  the  world  and  overcome 
all  opposition,  until  its  boundaries  shall  be  coextensive  with 
the  ends  of  the  earth  (Matth.  16  :18). 

We  call  it  the  Church,  Kirke  or  Kvpza]ct')(heloT\gmg  to  the 
Lord),  because  it  is  the  temporary  and  visible  form  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  as  Paul  writes:  "Ye  are  of  the  household 
13 


194 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


of  God,  being  built  upon  tbe  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone ; ...  in  which  ye  also  are  builded  together  for  a  habita- 
tion of  God  in  the  spirit.  To  the  intent,  that  now  unto  the 
principalities  and  the  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  might 
be  made  known  through  the  Church  the  manifold  wisdom 
of  God  (Eph.  2  :20,  22  and  3  :10). 

But  the  Church  is  also  an  Ecclesia,  Ekkhr/ffia  (an  assembly 
of  the  people),  established  on  earth  with  earthly  forms.  As 
it  was  founded  by  the  instrumentality  of  men,  so  it  must 
adapt  itself  to  earthly  needs  and  environments,  in  matters 
of  proclamation,  ritual  and  church  government.  Further- 
more the  Church,  though  not  "of  the  world,"  is  in  a  sinful 
world  and  partakes  of  the  imperfections  of  earthly  condi- 
tions, both  as  regards  the  spiritual  state  of  its  members 
and  in  its  institutions  and  doctrines,  so  far  as  the  latter  are 
formulated  by  imperfect  men.  The  Church  is  not  infallible. 
She  cannot  ward  off  every  insincere  intruder,  nor  guarantee 
the  spiritual  character  of  all  her  members.  She  cannot 
avoid  all  misconception  of  the  great  facts  and  truths  of 
salvation  entrusted  to  her  stewardship  nor  prevent  all 
misuse  of  her  sacred  privileges.  While  it  is  her  duty,  by  a 
constant  and  energetic  effort  to  conquer  sin  and  error, 
without  and  within  the  Church,  and  thus  aim  at  perfection, 
she  cannot  expect  to  reach  this  goal  of  perfection,  until  the 
head  of  the  Church  returns  in  glory,  "to  present  the  Church 
to  himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle 
or  any  such  thing;  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and  without 
blemish"  (Eph.  5:27). 

3.   The  Visible  and  the  Invisible  Church. 

Gradually,  as  the  borders  of  the  Church  were  enlarged, 
it  became  necessary  to  distinguish  not  only  between  the 
universal  Church  and  the  individual  Church  or  denomina- 
tion, in  which  the  universal  Church  takes  local  and  temporal 
form,  but  also  between  the  true  spiritual  Church  representing 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


195 


the  kingdom  of  God,  which  is  largely  an  invisible  Church 
and  the  external,  organized  Christian  community,  or  the 
visible  Church.  To  the  latter  belong  all  those  who  profess 
the  name  of  Christ  as  the  Lord  and  are  in  any  way  connected 
with  and  under  the  care  of  the  Church  Institution.  This 
visible  Church  was  compared  by  Christ  to  a  dragnet  cast 
into  the  sea  which  gathers  all  manner  of  fish,  good  or  bad. 
The  members  of  this  visible  Church  are  not  as  such  children 
of  God  and  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  the  Church  is 
to  train  them  and  fit  them  for  Christ  and  his  kingdom. 

The  invisible  Church,  on  the  other  hand,  comprises  all 
true  believers,  the  fellowship  of  the  saints  who,  though 
widely  scattered  throughout  the  visible  Church,  are  knit 
together  by  an  invisible  bond  of  union.  ~No  single  branch 
or  division  of  the  visible  Church  has  an  exclusive  claim  to 
represent  the  kingdom  of  God,  no  church  organization  is 
exclusively  the  true  Church.  The  Lord  has  in  every  de- 
nomination those  who  are  his,  because  they  have  the  Spirit 
of  Christ.  This  invisible  Church  is  the  life-giving  breath, 
the  soul,  within  the  external  Church-body,  the  "holy  catholic 
Church,"  and  the  confession  of  the  apostolic  creed :  "Credo 
in  unam  sanctam  ecclesiam  catholicam"  attains  its  true 
meaning,  when  applied  to  this  largely  invisible  Christian 
Church. 

4.  Merits  of  the  Visible  Church. 

While  some  Christians  overestimate  the  value  of  external 
Church  connection  as  such,  many  others  are  not  only  in- 
different to  the  merits  of  the  visible  Church  organization, 
but  assume  even  a  hostile  attitude  toward  it.  A  false 
separatism  and  individualism  needs  to  be  reminded  that  the 
Church,  even  as  an  external  organization,  has  great  claims 
on  our  gratefulness,  because  of  the  eminent  services  which 
she  has  rendered  and  is  constantly  rendering,  not  only  to 
the  cause  of  Christianity,  but  also  to  humanity  at  large. 

The  Church  has  preserved  and  spread  the  Holy  Scrip- 


196 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


tures,  erected  and  maintained  houses  of  worship,  educated 
and  ordained  ministers  and  missionaries,  and  provided  the 
means  of  grace  and  sacraments.  She  has  brought  joy  and 
comfort  into  millions  of  Christian  homes,  by  hallowing  the 
marriage  relation  and  the  family  life;  has  founded  schools 
and  colleges,  established  orphanages  and  asylums,  mitigated 
or  abolished  the  evils  of  slavery,  raised  woman  to  the 
position  due  to  her,  promoted  arts  and  sciences  and  in  many 
other  ways  benefited  the  social  as  well  as  the  religious  con- 
dition of  mankind.  Without  a  visible  Church  organization, 
Christianity  itself  could  not  have  continued  unto  the  present 
time.  The  individual  Christian,  however  advanced  he  may 
be,  cannot  look  with  indifference  upon  the  institution,  by 
whose  instrumentality  he  has  been  brought  to  a  saving  know- 
ledge of  the  truth,  which  regularly  supplies  the  means  of 
grace,  instructs  the  young,  comforts  the  bereaved  and  tenders 
the  last  consolation  to  the  dying. 

The  acknowledgment  of  these  facts  involves  the  obligation 
of  the  Christian  to  connect  himself  with  some  branch  of  the 
visible  Church  and  its  activities;  to  support  its  enterprises 
by  giving  liberally  to  the  Church  causes  and  advocating  her 
claims,  and  by  conforming  to  the  rules  of  the  Church  in  his 
walk  and  conversation.  The  tendency  to  keep  aloof  from 
Church  connection  is  owing,  in  most  cases,  either  to  a  false 
selfishness  and  conceit,  which  thinks  itself  above  the  common 
needs  of  believers,  or  else  to  the  desire  of  evading  the  obli- 
gation resting  upon  church-members,  financially,  socially  or 
morally. 

5.  National  and  Independent  Churches. 
Since  the  reign  of  Constantine,  Christianity  has  become 
the  established  religion  of  entire  nations,  so  that  in  certain 
countries  the  Church  has  become  identified  with  the  people 
as  a  nationl  Church,  e.g.,  the  Greek  Catholic  Church  in 
Russia,  the  Roman  Catholic  in  France,  Spain  and  Central 
or  South  America,  the  Anglican  Church  in  England,  the 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


197 


Lutheran  in  Denmark  and  Sweden,  etc.  Here  then  every 
member  of  the  nation  is  counted  as  belonging  to  the  national 
Church.  Can  such  a  national  Church  be  regarded  as  a  true 
Church?  The  testimony  of  the  New  Testament  scriptures 
is  to  the  effect,  that  the  apostolic  Church  comprised  only 
those  who  by  their  own  free  choice  belonged  to  it,  not  men 
who  were  born  into  the  Church  by  virtue  of  their  nationality. 
The  establishment  of  national  Churches  has  tended  to  lower 
the  standard  of  Christianity  and  to  create  formalism  and 
superstition  or  indifference.  Some  of  the  Reformers  of  the 
sixteenth  century  endeavored  to  return  to  the  apostolic  ideal, 
but  found  it  impossible,  because  of  the  low  spiritual  state  of 
the  Christian  world  in  their  days,  and  yielding  to  necessity 
accepted  the  definition  of  the  Church  which  makes  it  simply 
a  "Coetus  Vocatorum,"  an  Institution  for  educating  the 
people  up  to  the  true  standard  of  Christianity,  not  a 
"Communio  Fidelium"  (communion  of  believers). 

For  all  that,  something  may  be  said  in  favor  of  national 
Churches.  When  Christ,  speaking  in  parables  about  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  illustrated  its  develop- 
ment by  the  picture  of  "Tares  in  the  field,"  the  "Dragnet 
cast  into  the  sea  and  gathering  of  every  kind,"  and  the 
"Mustard  seed"  growing  into  a  tree  in  whose  branches  the 
birds  build  nests,  he  must  have  foreseen  a  time,  when  through 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  entire  nations  would  become 
Christianized,  without  being  thoroughly  converted.  We  note 
also  that  the  Apostle  Paul,  in  speaking  of  mixed  marriages 
between  believers  and  unbelievers  writes:  "The  unbelieving 
husband  is  sanctified  in  the  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is 
sanctified  in  the  brother  (husband) ;  else  were  your  children 
unclean;  but  now  are  they  holy"  (that  is,  set  apart  for 
Christ's  kingdom)  I  Cor.  7  :14. 

There  are  some  advantages  gained  from  these  national 
organizations,  viz. :  a.  The  general  religious  instruction  of 
the  young  as  a  part  of  their  schooling,    b.  The  opportunity 


198 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


which  it  offers  for  bringing  all  classes  of  people  under  re- 
ligious influence,  in  baptism,  confirmation  and  marriage, 
etc.  c.  Certain  forms, of  ritual  and  Church  government,  not 
to  say  of  doctrine,  seem  to  fit  an  entire  nation  better  than 
other  forms.  It  may  be  added  that  the  national  Churches 
are  not  so  much  more  lacking  in  spiritual  life,  compared 
with  the  free  Churches,  as  to  regard  this  point  as  decisive. 
Nevertheless  the  independent  Church  appears  to  be  the  more 
perfect  form  of  Church  organization,  because  it  comes  nearer 
to  the  apostolic  ideal  and  seems  better  calculated  to  promote 
individual  Christian  life  as  well  as  to  maintain  the  spiritual 
character  of  the  Church  in  general. 

6.  Relation  between  Church  and  State. 

The  Church  is  to  be  a  blessing  to  the  world,  to  regenerate 
human  society  and  to  leaven  all  earthly  institutions;  but  it 
is  not  a  rival  of  the  State  nor  a  substitute  for  ordinary 
social  and  political  organizations.  Hence  that  relation  be- 
tween Church  and  State  would  seem  proper  and  desirable 
which  will  give  to  both  free  scope  without  mutual  interfer- 
ence, so  that  the  Church  does  not  attempt  to  control  the  State, 
nor  the  State  to  control  the  Church.  "Render  therefore 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's  and  unto  God  the 
things  that  are  God's"  (Matth.  22:21).  As  Paul  wrote  to 
the  Roman  Christians :  "Let  every  soul  be  in  subjection  to  the 
higher  powers;  for  there  is  no  power  but  of  God;  and  the 
powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God"  (Rom.  13:1).  The 
Romanist  claim,  that  the  Church  has  a  right  to  exercise 
secular  as  well  as  spiritual  oversight  and  rule,  has  the  testi- 
mony of  Scripture  and  of  history  against  it.  But  neither 
must  kings  or  civil  magistrates  assume  authority  or  do- 
minion over  the  Church. 

The  fact  that  in  many  countries  the  Church  receives 
financial  aid  from  the  civil  government  and  in  return  ac- 
knowledges the  authority  of  rulers  and  parliaments  in  Church 
affairs,  has  produced  much  confusion  and  injury.    We  do 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


199 


not  say,  that  the  welfare  of  either  Church  or  State  requires 
an  absolute  separation  between  the  two.  Both  have  a 
common  interest  in  many  matters,  such  as  the  education  of 
the  young,  the  marriage  relation  and  social  reforms,  and 
may  co-operate  on  the  principle  of  equal  rights  and  duties. 
An  absolute  exclusion  of  religion  from  the  institutions  of  the 
State  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable.  The  Church  should 
exercise  a  wholesome  influence  upon  the  State  and  the  public 
school,  as  well  as  upon  the  enactment  and  observance  of 
beneficial  laws,  and  the  futherance  of  good  citizenship.  In 
turn,  it  should  allow  the  State  a  corresponding  supervision 
over  its  own  organization.  In  brief,  a  free  Church,  loyal  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  State,  and  a  free  State,  recognizing 
the  good  services  of  the  Church,  appears  to  be  the  ideal  to 
be  followed. 

Chapter  XXXVIII.    Essentials  of  the  Church. 
1.  Criterion  of  a  True  Church. 

Although  no  Church  is  found  anywhere  on  earth,  that  is 
perfect,  the  relative  superiority  of  one  branch  of  the  Church 
universal  over  the  other  is  evident.  Not  all  the  denomina- 
tions now  in  existence  have  an  equal  right  to  the  name  of  a 
Christian  Church,  which  is  conditioned  upon  their  fulfilling 
the  function  of  the  Church,  to  manifest  the  redeeming  work 
of  Christ  and  to  win  the  world  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 
There  may  be  true  Christians  in  a  church  organization, 
which  does  not  provide  any  means  of  grace  for  nourishing 
the  spiritual  life  of  her  members  or  which  has  subverted  the 
very  foundations  of  a  Church  of  Christ. 

But  what  are  these  essentials,  the  necessary  characteristics 
and  requirements  of  a  true  Church?  Since  the  Christian 
Church,  in  the  course  of  time,  through  various  causes  has 
become  divided  into  many  parts,  each  part  is  apt  to  con- 
sider their  distinguishing  marks  of  greatest  importance. 


200 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Some  make  the  apostolic  succession  and  the  authority  of  an 
infallible  Church  and  pope  the  condition  of  Church  fellow- 
ship. Some  regard  their  form  of  Church  government,  be  it 
the  "historic  episcopate"  or  the  "presbytery"  or  the  "con- 
gregational polity,"  as  indispensable.  Others  declare  mat- 
ters of  ritual,  the  form  of  administering  the  sacraments  and 
the  like,  the  decisive  test  of  a  true  Church.  But,  however 
valuable  and  important  these  matters  of  distinction  may  be, 
must  not  all  Christians  agree  that  the  real,  fundamental 
requisite  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  the  one  pointed  out  by 
Paul  in  I  Cor.  3  :11 :  "Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Christ  ?"  The  unreserved  accept- 
ance of  the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  as  presented  to  us  in 
the  Bible  must  remain  the  unchanging  foundation  of  the 
Church's  faith  and  practice.  It  was  when  Peter,  with  the 
Apostles,  confessed:  "Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God,"  that  the  answer  was  made:  "Upon  this  rock  I 
will  build  my  Church  and  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not 
prevail  against  it"  (Matth.  16:18).  This,  then,  is  the  first 
essential,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  as  found  in  the  scriptures 
— the  corner-stone  of  every  true  Christian  Church. 

But  this  first  essential  includes  a  second  one,  viz.,  the  ob- 
serving of  the  ordinances  instituted  by  Christ,  especially  the 
holy  sacraments,  even  as  we  read  of  the  first  Christian 
Church:  "They  that  received  his  word  were  baptized.  .  .  and 
they  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  teaching  and 
fellowship,  in  the  breaking  of  bread  and  the  prayers"  (Acts 
2:41,  42).  "Word  and  sacraments"  are  the  two  principal 
instrumentalities  for  awakening  and  promoting  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  Church.  They  are  largely  objective  in  their 
character  and  independent  of  the  persons  who  administer 
them.  Their  maintainance  in  any  branch  of  the  Christian 
Church  ought  to  suffice  to  entitle  the  same  to  the  name  of  a 
true  Church. 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


201 


2.  Churches  and  Sects. 

Two  extremes  should  be  avoided  in  applying  this  test  of 
word  and  sacrament  and  determining  the  standing  of  any 
Church  organization.  The  one  is  that  of  limiting  the 
standard  of  "true  church  essentials"  to  certain  large  or  old 
established  Churches  and  to  denounce  all  the  more  recent  or 
the  smaller  denominations  as  sects.  The  other  extreme  is 
that  of  finding  fault  with  the  older  Churches  and  declaring 
them  corrupt,  simply  on  the  ground  of  their  being  old  and 
perhaps  showing  less  vitality  or  spirituality,  than  the  newer 
organizations. 

The  existence  of  denominational  distinctions  is  not  in 
itself  a  misfortune  or  an  injury  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  not 
something  to  be  denounced  or  lamented.  True  unity  is 
spiritual  rather  than  formal;  it  consists  in  manifoldness 
rather  than  in  sameness.  There  was  such  a  distinction  in 
the  Christian  Church  from  the  first,  between  the  Gentile 
Church  and  the  J ewish  Christians,  the  Churches  of  Asia  and 
the  Churches  of  Macedonia,  etc.  The  Saviour  did  not  say: 
"there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd"  (A.V.),  but,  "there 
shall  be  one  flock,  one  shepherd"  (R.  V.).  The  variety  of 
denominations  is  a  blessing  to  the  Church  universal  (catho- 
lic), if  they  are  so  many  embodiments  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  each  presenting  some  special  features  or  aspects  of  the 
one  true  Church  of  God.  Their  right  of  existence  rests  on  the 
natural  and  needful  variety  of  human  form  and  thought. 
The  Lord  himself  clearly,  from  time  to  time,  has  called  new 
denominations  into  being,  in  accordance  with  the  needs  of  the 
age  or  of  the  people.  They  have  been  the  means  for  deepen- 
ing the  spirituality  of  the  Church,  increasing  the  missionary 
activity  and  giving  emphasis  to  certain  truths,  otherwise 
overlooked. 

There  is,  however,  a  false  subjectivism  and  separatism, 
which  has  caused  divisions  on  no  other  ground  but  that  of 
selfishness  and  conceit.     These   may    rightly   be  termed 


202 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


"sects."  For  a  sect  means  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ 
which  is  cut  off  from  that  body.  Sects  cling  to  what  is  one- 
sided and  partial,  they  emphasize  fragments  of  the  truth, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  whole  truth,  substituting  the  unessen- 
tial for  the  essential  and  making  human  ordinances  or  teach- 
ings the  main  issue. 

3.  Creeds  and  Confessions. 

It  is  proper  and  desirable,  that  each  separate  Church  or- 
ganization should  have  its  creed  or  confession  of  faith,  setting 
forth  its  understanding  of  the  leading  truths  of  Christianity. 
As  every  nation  has  its  national  character  indicated  in  its 
constitution,  customs  and  language,  so  each  Church  naturally 
declares  its  position  in  certain  articles  of  faith.  These  con- 
fessions of  faith  serve  a  threefold  purpose,  a.  To  be  a  guide 
to  the  members  of  the  Church,  supporting  and  promoting  their 
growth  in  Christian  knowledge  and  life.  b.  To  be  a  banner 
of  the  Church  before  the  sister  denominations,  marking  its 
individuality  of  faith  and  practice,  c.  To  be  a  declaration  of 
faith  before  an  unbelieving  world. 

However,  in  order  to  accomplish  these  objects,  the  creed 
of  the  Church  should  be:  a.  A  positive  declaration  of  the 
truth,  rather  than  a  polemical  document,  b.  A  practical 
and  popular  statement,  setting  forth  the  actual  faith  of  the 
Church,  rather  than  a  definition  of  theological  terms  or  a 
discussion  of  metaphysical  questions,  c.  Such  a  creed  should 
not  be  regarded  as  fixed  for  all  time  to  come  and  unalterable, 
so  as  to  do  away  with  the  duty  of  searching  the  Scriptures  and 
comprehending  the  revelation  of  God  more  fully.  All  human 
creeds  are  at  best  imperfect  expositions  of  the  truth  and  not 
infallible. 

4.  Sunday  and  the  House  of  God. 
Among  the  essentials  of  the  Church,  in  the  sense  of  things 
required  for  the  maintenance  and  work  of  the  Church,  may 
well  be  counted  the  observance  of  the  "Lord's  day"  and  the 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


203 


regular  meeting  together  of  Christian  people  for  worship 
in  some  consecrated  place. 

The  setting  apart  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Lord's 
day  and  a  Sabbath,  or  rest  day,  is  an  institution  of  the 
Christian  Church,  based  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Mosaic 
law  and  the  divine  order  manifested  in  nature  and  history. 
It  is  not  the  Jewish  Sabbath  as  such  that  is  of  binding 
authority.  Neither  Christ  nor  his  disciples  ever  enjoined 
upon  the  disciples  the  duty  of  keeping  the  Sabbath  day  and 
St.  Paul  in  writing  to  Gentile  believers  declares :  "Let  no  man 
judge  you  in  respect  of  a  feast  day,  or  a  new  moon  or  a 
Sabbath  day :  which  are  a  shadow  of  the  things  to  come,  but 
the  body  is  Christ's"  (Col.  2:16,  17).  The  Mosaic  prescrip- 
tions with  regard  to  the  form  of  keeping  the  Sabbath  are 
abrogated,  but  the  Sabbath-  itself,  as  "made  for  man"  (Mk. 
2  :27),  is  of  abiding  obligation,  because  of  the  blessing  which 
it  brings  to  the  individual,  to  the  community  and  to  the 
Church  of  Christ.  The  Old  Testament  Sabbath  was  a  gift 
of  God's  goodness  to  Israel,  intended  to  promote  their 
physical,  mental  and  spiritual  good  and  built  upon  the  record 
of  the  creation  and  the  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of 
Egypt.  The  Christian  Church,  recognizing  the  value  of  a 
weekly  day  of  rest  and  worship,  from  the  first  century  began 
to  observe  the  first  day  of  the  week,  Sunday,  as  the  Lord's 
day,  because  on  that  day  Christ  rose  from  the  dead  and  on  the 
same  day  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out  upon  the  Church  on 
Pentecost.  That  day,  therefore,  was  set  apart  for  rest  and 
worship,  as  well  as  for  missionary  work  and  gifts  of  charity 
(I  Cor.  16  :2  ;  Acts  20  :7 ;  Eov.  1 :10). 

The  history  of  the  Christian  Church  has  amply  proved  the 
great  value,  nay  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  faithful  obser- 
vance of  such  a  Christian  Sabbath  day.  It  corresponds  to  a 
threefold  need  of  man :  physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual 
rest  and  growth.  And  what  to  the  true  believer  is  a  simple 
necessity  of  love,  may  to  the  weak  and  indifferent  Christian 


204 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


be  a  necessity  of  educational  discipline  for  his  spiritual 
support.  The  Christian  Church  should  endeavor  to  guard 
the  Christian  observance.of  Sunday  against  all  anti-Christian 
tendencies,  in  order  that  a  stated  opportunity  be  given  to  all 
to  hear  the  word  of  God  and  to  enjoy  the  means  of  grace. 

The  need  of  a  special  day  set  apart  as  the  Lord's  day, 
implies  also  the  need  of  a  special  place  of  worship,  where 
Christian  people  can  meet  for  united  worship,  for  mutual 
exhortation  and  edification  and  for  united  counsel  as  to  how 
best  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Lord.  Whether  the  ap- 
pointed place  of  worship  be  a  grand  and  beautiful  cathedral 
or  a  plain  and  humble  meeting-house,  the  Christian  congre- 
gation needs  some  building  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God 
and  calculated  to  direct  thought,  feeling  and  will  heaven- 
ward; and  it  is  a  duty  as  well  as  a  privilege  of  Christian 
people,  to  go  to  church  and  to  attend  divine  service  as  regu- 
larly as  possible.  Though  the  believer  is  free  to  make  every 
place  a  house  of  God,  he  can  not  with  impunity  forsake  the 
assembling  together  of  Christians  (Heb.  10:25),  and  he  may 
well  test  the  degree  of  his  Christian  fervor  and  of  his  church 
loyalty  by  the  question,  as  to  whether  he  can  truly  say  with 
the  Psalmist :  "How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles,  O  Lord  of 
hosts.  For  a  day  in  thy  courts  is  better  than  a  thousand. 
I  had  rather  be  a  door-keeper  in  the  house  of  my  God,  than 
to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness"  (Ps.  84:1,  10). 


Chapter  XXXIX.    Elements  of  Prosperity  in  the 
Church. 

1.  Spirituality  and  Revivals. 
It  is  not  enough  that  a  church  organization  have  existence. 
It  must  also  contain  elements  of  growth  and  prosperity. 
Just  as  the  spiritual  life  of  the  individual  Christian  must 
progress  if  it  is  not  to  become  stagnant  or  retrograde,  so  the 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


205 


life  of  the  Church  must  grow,  within  and  without.  Here  the 
following  points  may  be  noted  as  of  special  importance  for 
churchly  prosperity  and  as  tests  of  vitality.  First  of  all,  a 
Church  should  rank  high  or  low  in  the  scale  of  true  churches 
according  to  the  measure  of  spiritual  life  manifested  among 
its  members.  While  no  church  organization  has  yet  succeeded 
in  admitting  only  regenerate  persons  or  purging  its  lists  from 
every  unworthy  name,  there  should  be  an  earnest  effort  in  a 
true  Church  of  Christ  to  represent  as  much  as  possible  the 
kingdom  of  God,  by  an  increasing  spiritual  knowledge  and  a 
consistent  Christian  walk  on  the  part  of  its  members.  Accord- 
ing to  apostolic  admonition,  Church  members  are  to  "exhort 
one  another  and  build  each  other  up"  (I  Thess.  5:11). 
Pastors  and  people  should  use  all  the  means  at  their  command 
to  promote  vital  religion,  by  services  calculated  to  quicken 
spiritual  life  and  to  bring  about  a  revival  of  religion. 

It  is  desirable  that  there  should  be  organizations  and 
associations  formed  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  Church,  by  the 
cultivation  of  spiritual  gifts  and  graces  and  for  the  cure  and 
care  of  souls.  In  these  respects,  the  Church  may  keep  in  view 
the  institutions  of  the  apostolic  Church  as  a  pattern,  without, 
however,  limiting  itself  to  any  transitory  form.  Here  belong 
Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  King's  Daughters,  and  other 
associations,  or  Class  meetings,  etc.  Compare  Eph.  5 :19, 
"Speaking  one  to  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual 
songs."  One  of  the  strongest  agencies  for  the  upbuilding  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  most  important  department  of 
Church  work,  is  that  which  is  concerned  with  the  religious 
education  of  the  young,  particularly  the  Sunday  School. 
Its  aim  is  to  instruct  the  scholars  in  the  word  of  God,  to 
sing  with  them  the  "songs  of  Zion,"  and  to  present  the  great 
facts  and  truths  of  salvation  to  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  win 
their  souls  for  Christ  and  to  develop  a  Christian  character. 
The  Sunday  School  calls  for  the  service  of  consecrated  and 
properly  trained  teachers  and  leaders,  and  it  gives  the  promise 


206 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


of  the  most  blessed  results  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  "From  a 
babe  Thou  hast  known  the  sacred  writings  which  are  able 
to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus."    II  Tim.  3  :15. 

2.  Missionary  Work. 

Again,  a  Church  will  the  more  deserve  the  name  of  a 
living  Church,  in  proportion  to  the  zeal  with  which  it  labors 
for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  A  live  Church 
must  be  a  working  Church,  must  endeavor  to  spread  the 
Gospel  at  home  and  abroad  and  seek  to  win  souls  for  Christ, 
both  among  the  heathen  and  among  nominal  Christians.  As 
to  home  mission  work,  the  Church  will  find  many  opportuni- 
ties for  needful  effort  in  providing  for  a  continued  Christian 
training  and  guarding  of  its  members  and  for  the  exercise 
of  useful  Christian  activity,  through  Young  Women's  and 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations;  by  the  formation  and 
maintenance  of  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies  in  "going  out 
into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  to  bring  in  the  poor  and 
the  maimed,  the  halt  and  the  blind,"  or  out  into  "the  highways 
and  hedges  to  compel  them  to  come  in"  (Luke  14:21,23). 
There  is  still  much  room  for  charity  work  and  social  reform, 
in  the  relation  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  in  orphanages, 
hospitals  and  prisons.  There  is  a  loud  call  for  rescue  missions, 
for  promoting  civic  righteousness  and  fighting  intemperance 
and  vice,  without  however  assuming  to  do  the  work  of  the 
state,  and  without  forgetting  that  the  specific  function  of 
the  Church  is  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

There  remains  also  much  work  yet  to  be  done  in  the 
foreign  mission  field.  The  Church  of  Christ  begins  to  re- 
alize more  and  more  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  taking  part 
in  carrying  out  the  Saviour's  injunction :  "Go  ye  therefore, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  nations."  An  active  interest  in 
foreign  mission  work  is  the  best  test  of  the  vitality  of  the 
Church.  Not  by  angels  but  by  men  is  the  world  to  be  con- 
verted to  Christ.    Gratefulness  for  the  light  and  life  received 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


207 


through  the  Gospel,  heartfelt  pity  for  fellow-men  who  are 
suffering  under  the  ban  of  superstition,  cruelty  and  vice,  an 
earnest  desire  to  help  in  giving  to  as  many  men  as  possible  a 
personal  share  in  Christ's  salvation,  these  are  the  most  potent 
and  sufficient  motives  for  carrying  on  the  foreign  mission 
work  with  zeal  and  devotion.  Experiences  show  that  the 
home  Churches  themselves  are  greatly  benefited  by  such  work. 
Doors  are  opening  everywhere;  men  and  means  are  needed 
to  enter  in.  The  call  of  the  Lord  is  still  as  urgent  a*  ever: 
"Whom  shall  I  send  and  who  will  go  for  us"  (Isa.  6  :8)  ;  "The 
harvest  indeed  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few;  pray  ye 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  send  forth  laborers  into  his 
harvest."  (Luke  10:2). 

3.  The  Union  Spirit. 
In  the  next  place,  a  Church  deserves  higher  praise  in 
proportion  to  its  standing  on  the  broad  platform  of  the 
Church  universal,  endeavoring  to  keep  the  bond  of  peace  with 
all  those  who  love  the  Lord  in  sincerity,  and  confessing  itself 
to  be  but  a  part  of  the  "holy  catholic  Church,"  which  is  the 
communion  of  saints.  It  cannot  be  right  and  in  accord  with 
the  spirit  of  Christ:,  to  build  up  the  walls  of  partition  be- 
tween Churches  so  high  as  to  exclude  as  unorthodox  or  secta- 
ian  all  other  denominations  but  one's  own.  Loyalty  to  the 
individual  Church  does  not  conflict  with  the  higher  duty  of 
promoting  Christian  unity,  in  accordance  with  the  high- 
priestly  prayer  of  Christ :  "I  pray  for  them  also  that  believe 
on  me  through  their  word;  that  they  may  all  be  one"  (John 
17:20). 

Such  union  in  the  spirit  does  not  mean  uniformity  of 
ritual,  Church  government  or  doctrine,  nor  a  merging  of  all 
the  Churches  or  an  abolishing  of  denominational  distinctions. 
We  cannot  advocate  an  indiscriminate  unification  or  a  con- 
formity of  denominations,  which  would  efface  all  churchly 
individuality.  "In  necessariis  unitas.innonnecessariislibertas, 
in  utrisque  caritas"  (In  essentials  unity,  in  non-essentials 


208 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


liberty,  in  both  charity),  is  a  good  old  motto.  It  finds  its 
practical  demonstration  in  the  establishment  and  mainten- 
ance of  fraternal  relations,  of  church  comity  and  of  a 
"federation  of  Churches"  which  will  enable  them  to  combine 
their  strength  in  the  battle  against  sin  and  unbelief,  and  to 
labor  more  effectively  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  The 
nearer  the  Churches  come  to  Christ,  the  nearer  they  will 
come  to  each  other  and  the  more  closely  will  they  realize  the 
ideal  of  the  future,  "one  flock  and  one  shepherd." 

4.  Variety  of  Ritual. 

In  the  matter  of  ritual  and  worship,  there  can  and  should 
be  a  great  variety  of  forms  according  to  the  needs  of  the 
age  and  the  religious  training  of  the  people.  Liturgical 
forms  and  ceremonies,  vestments  and  art,  especially  music, 
play  an  important  part  in  the  public  worship  and  in  the 
expression  and  cultivation  of  true  devotion  but  no  one  form 
of  worship  can  or  should  be  made  binding  for  all  times  or 
for  all  kinds  of  people. 

The  ritual  should  be  adapted  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  all 
tbe  members  of  the  Church,  so  that  provision  is  made  not 
only  for  the  "fathers  in  Christ,"  but  likewise  for  the  begin- 
ners in  discipleship,  and  for  those  who  are  yet  strangers  to 
the  household  of  God.  Accordingly,  no  Church  should  have 
one  exclusive  form  of  service,  whether  it  be  the  preaching 
service  or  the  liturgical  worship.  The  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  doubtless,  will  also  remain  a  very  important  feature 
of  united  worship,  both  for  the  sake  of  the  unconverted  and 
for  the  needful  continued  instruction  and  quickening  of 
believers.  But  preaching  alone  does  not  satisfy  nor  suffice. 
A  variety  of  devotional  exercises,  including  an  active  par- 
ticipation of  the  congregation  in  the  service,  by  singing, 
prayer  or  testimony,  will  prove  most  effective  in  upbuilding 
the  Church. 


PAET  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


209 


5.  Church  Government. 

That  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church  universal  and  the 
king  of  the  kingdom  of  grace  which  he  came  to  establish  on 
earth,  is  a  truth  recognized  more  or  less  clearly  by  every 
Christian  denomination.  This  fundamental  principle  of 
church  authority  being  fully  accepted,  a  variety  of  forms 
of  government  and  of  church  organization  must  be  regarded 
as  permissible.  We  know  that  Christ  appointed  certain 
disciples  to  be  apostles  (or  missionaries)  and  these,  in  turn, 
appointed  or  ordained  elders,  bishops  (overseers)  and  dea- 
cons, to  direct  and  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  Church. 
(Acts  14:23,  "And  when  they  had  appointed  from  them 
elders  in  every  Church  and  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they 
commended  them  to  the  Lord."  Titus  1 :5,  7,  "For  this  cause 
left  I  thee  in  Crete  that  thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the 
things  that  were  wanting  and  appoint  elders  in  every  city, 
as  I  gave  thee  charge.  For  the  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as 
God's  steward;  not  self-willed,  not  soon  angry,"  etc.)  Order 
is  indispensable,  where  the  object  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth  is  to  be  attained  and  order  cannot  be  maintained  with- 
out authority;  but  extremes  should  be  avoided  in  too  much 
or  too  little  government. 

The  Roman  Church  demands  the  universal  acceptance  of 
the  pope  as  the  successor  of  Peter  and  vice-regent  of  Christ, 
whose  decisions  "ex  cathedra"  are  infallible  in  matters  of 
doctrine  and  ritual.  But  this  claim  rests  on  a  spurious  com- 
mission of  authority,  as  entrusted  exclusively  to  Peter  (com- 
pare Matth.  16:19  with  18:18)  and  transferred  to  self-ap- 
pointed successors.  However,  some  Christians  may  prefer 
to  recognize  the  pope  as  the  supreme  earthly  ruler  of  the 
Church.  Others  prefer  an  episcopal  government,  others  a 
presbyterian,  still  others  a  congregational  rule  of  demo- 
cratic independence.  The  testimony  of  experience  appears 
to  prove  that  a  conferential  government,  whether  by  the 
14 


210 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


hands  of  bishops,  by  a  presbytery  or  by  an  executive  board, 
appointed  by  Synod,  offers  the  greatest  advantages,  with 
the  fewest  dangers. 

If  this  is  true  of  the  entire  Church,  it  applies  also  to  each 
congregation.  It  must  be  regarded  as  an  exigency,  if  the 
pastor  or  rector  alone  is  the  spiritual  head  of  a  church. 
Theological  training  and  churchly  ordination  are  indeed 
necessary  for  the  proper  superintending  of  the  affairs  of  a 
congregation,  especially  in  matters  of  doctrine  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  but  the  minister  must  have 
the  assistance  and  support  of  representatives  of  the  congre- 
gation, if  his  work  is  to  be  truly  successful. 

6.  Discipline. 

The  welfare  of  the  Church,  finally,  requires  the  proper 
exercise  of  discipline,  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  word.  This 
includes,  in  the  first  place,  the  adoption  of  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  admission  or  exclusion  of  members  and  for  the 
general  conduct  of  church  affairs.  While  every  member  of 
the  church  must  be  allowed  the  right  to  withdraw  from 
church-fellowship,  without  thereby  losing  any  civil  or  social 
rights,  the  Church  must  also  have  the  right  to  dismiss  or  to 
exclude  those  who  do  not  fulfill  their  duties  as  church  mem- 
bers, or  who  forfeit  their  membership  by  gross  sins.  For  the 
exercise  of  that  negative  church  discipline,  the  Bible  and  the 
apostolic  age  give  but  few  general  directions.  Private  of- 
fences are  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  rule  in  Matth. 
18:15-17  and  James  5:19,  20;  for  public  offences  directions 
are  found  in  I  Cor.  5 :3-5 ;  I  Thess.  5  :14  and  II  Thess.  3  :6. 

It  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret  that  the  abuse  of  the  so-called 
"power  of  the  keys,"  in  the  Confessional  and  the  Inquisition, 
has  brought  Church  discipline  into  disrepute  and  has  made 
it  an  object  of  suspicion  and  hatred  to  many.  In  order  to  be 
effective,  the  exercise  of  Church  discipline  must  be  supported 
by  the  religious  spirit  and  the  life  of  the  Church.  Whatever 
savors  of  priestly  lordship  must  be  avoided.    The  Church  can 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


211 


only  make  use  of  moral  means  in  administering  discipline 
and  with  nothing  else  in  view,  than  the  removal  of  offences, 
the  reformation  or  conversion  of  the  offender  and  the  quick- 
ening of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church. 

Chapter  XL.    The  Ordinances  of  the  Church. 

1.  Means  of  Grace. 
The  term  "means  of  grace"  is  used  in  the  Church  both  in  a 
broader  and  a  narrower  sense.  In  its  largest  sense  it  includes 
every  thing  which  God  in  Christ  has  given  us  for  the  quicken- 
ing and  strengthening  of  spiritual  life.  In  this  sense,  prayer 
is  the  greatest  means  of  grace.  In  a  narrower  sense,  however, 
we  understand  by  it  institutions  and  ordinances  of  a  public 
character  which  are  offered  through  the  mediation  of  the 
Church,  for  the  promotion  of  the  life  of  its  members.  These 
means  of  grace,  therefore,  are  divine  in  their  origin,  but 
human  in  their  application.  The  gift  is  substantially  the 
same  in  all  cases,  viz.,  the  grace  of  God,  but  the  form  or  vessel 
in  which  the  gift  is  presented,  varies.  The  ordinances  of  the 
Church  are  made  means  of  grace  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
principal  agencies  to  be  considered  under  this  head  are:  1. 
Christian  fellowship,  especially  as  exercised  in  united  wor- 
ship 2.  The  word  of  God,  as  publicly  proclaimed  or  privately 
read  and  studied.  3.  The  ordinance  of  Baptism.  4.  The 
Holy  Communion. 

2.  Christian  Fellowship  and  the  Word  of  God. 
The  communion  of  faith  which  exists  among  believers 
becomes  a  means  of  grace,  through  the  opportunities  afford- 
ed by  the  Church  for  Christian  fellowship  and  mutual  edi- 
fication. In  the  first  place,  we  have  the  united  worship,  es- 
pecially on  the  Lord's  day,  but  also  on  other  occasions.  All 
organizations  which  are  formed  for  the  purpose  of  promo- 
ting Christian  fellowship,  for  advancing  godliness  and  for 
united  effort  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  Church  of  Christ  and 


212 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


the  kingdom  of  God,  may  be  classed  as  such  means  of  grace 
mediated  by  the  Church.  A  concrete  symbol  of  the  benfits  of 
such  Christian  fellowship,  introduced  by  the  apostolic 
Church  and  perpetuated  in  several  denominations  is  the  so- 
called  "Love-Feast"  or  Agape. 

The  Word  of  God  supplied  by  the  Church  is,  first  of  all, 
a.  the  printed  Bible,  which  is  put  into  the  hands  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  for  their  personal  use.  And  certainly, 
the  prayerful  study  of  the  sacred  volume  as  the  standard  of 
the  Christian  faith  and  practice  is  a  most  important  means 
of  grace,  b.  The  holy  Scriptures,  furthermore,  as  publicly 
preached  and  applied,  are  a  most  valuable  agency  for  Chris- 
tian instruction  and  aid.  The  conversion  of  sinners  and 
the  spiritual  growth  of  believers  are  closely  bound  up  with 
the  effectual  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  c.  But  the  ministry 
of  the  Word  is  not  confined  to  those  who  have  been  formally 
set  apart  by  ordination  to  the  service  of  the  Church.  Their 
testimony  must  be  supplemented  by  the  mutual  instruction 
and  edification  of  lay  members,  in  Bible  study  and  in  the 
teaching  of  the  Sunday-school,  d.  The  most  effectual  sup- 
plementing of  the  Word  of  God,  as  a  means  of  grace  offered 
to  the  Church,  both  for  public  and  private  use,  is,  doubtless, 
furnished  in  the  Church  Hymnbooks,  with  or  without  music. 
Here  is  a  collection  of  the  poetic  expression  of  Christian 
truth,  sentiment  and  practical  experience,  adapted  as  well  to 
the  different  phases  of  united  divine  worship,  as  to  the  vari- 
ous conditions  and  needs  of  the  individual  believer. 

3.  The  Sacraments. 
In  a  special  sense  the  two  ordinances,  known  as  Sacra- 
ments, constitute  means  of  grace  offered  by  the  Church. 
The  word  sacrament  is  taken  from  the  Vulgate  translation  of 
the  Greek  word  fxverqpi or  (mystery,  or  revealed  secret,)  in 
Eph.  1 :9  and  Col.  1 :27.  Accordingly,  in  the  early  Church, 
it  was  applied  to  various  sacred  rites  as  well  as  to  certain 
doctrines,  like  the  Trinity  and  the  incarnation  of  Christ. 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


213 


Later,  however,  its  meaning  became  limited.  Augustine  de- 
fined a  sacrament  thus:  "Accedit  verbum  ad  elementum  et 
fit  sacramentum"  (word  and  element — make  a  sacrament) 
and  Peter  Lombard:  "Sacra  est  invisibilis  gratiae  visibilis 
forma"  (a  sacred  visible  form  of  an  invisible  grace).  The 
"scholastics"  then  fixed  the  number  of  sacraments  at  seven 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  still  so  counts  tbem,  viz. : 
1.  Baptism.  2.  Eucharist.  3.  Confirmation,  as  based  on 
Acts  8:17.  4.  Confession  or  Penance  (James  5:16).  5.  Holy- 
Orders  or  Ordination  (Acts  13:2,  3).  6.  Matrimony  (Eph. 
5  :32).   7.  Extreme  Unction  (James  5 :14). 

The  Protestant  Churches  count  the  first  and  second  only 
and  for  the  following  reasons:  Two  of  the  seven,  viz.,  con- 
firmation and  extreme  unction,  can  hardly  be  shown  to  be 
meant  in  the  passages  of  Scripture  quoted  with  them.  Ac- 
cording to  the  generally  received  interpretation,  Acts  8 :17 
tells  about  a  special  conferring  of  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  certain  Christians  at  Samaria,  and  James  5  :14  refers 
to  an  anointing  of  the  sick  with  oil  for  their  restoration  to 
health  and  not  in  preparation  for  death.  Two  other  Catholic 
sacraments,  viz.,  ordination  and  matrimony,  are  not  ap- 
pointed for  all  men,  in  fact  are  made  to  exclude  each  other. 
Consequently  they  are  not  means  of  grace  intended  for  all, 
if  they  are  to  be  considered  such  at  all.  The  fourth  Roman 
sacrament,  Confession  or  Penance,  has  no  material  element 
accompanying  it,  unless  the  imposition  of  hands  be  so  re- 
garded. If  the  word  sacrament  is  to  be  understood  in  the 
broad  sense  of  a  Church  ordinance,  other  rites  e.  g.  love- 
feast,  foot-washing,  and  the  like,  might  be  counted  in  also. 

Hence  the  Protestant  Churches  limit  the  meaning  of  sacra- 
ment to  "a  holy  ordinance  instituted  by  Christ  himself,  where- 
in the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  are  pledged  by  visible  signs." 
Thus  three  things  make  a  sacrament :  a.  Christ's  institution. 
b.  A  promise  of  a  blessing,  c.  A  visible  element.  Baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  were  instituted  by  Christ  and  were  re- 
garded as  permanent  ordinances  by  the  apostles.    (See  Matth. 


214 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


28:19— Acts  2:38,  and  Matth.  26:26-28—  I  Cor.  11:26). 
Both  have  a  definite  promise  accompanying  the  rite  (Mark 
16:16;  Titus  3:5;  I  Cor.  10:16),  and  both  have  a  visible 
element  as  a  tangible  pledge  of  divine  grace.  Furthermore 
these  two  sacraments  take  the  place  of  the  two  sacred  rites 
of  Israel,  circumcision  and  passover,  the  former  the  initiatory 
rite  of  consecration  and  the  sign  of  reception  into  the  coven- 
ant of  God,  the  latter  the  memorial  of  the  deliverance  from 
bondage  and  death  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

Some  Christian  denominations  hold  foot-washing  to  be  a 
third  sacrament  and  an  ordinance  of  binding  obligation. 
It  is  true,  that  the  three  tests  of  the  sacrament  generally 
accepted  by  Protestants  seem  to  apply  also  to  this  rite,  viz., 
Instituted  by  Christ,  a  promise  and  a  visible  element.  (Com- 
pare John  13  :8,  14).  But  we  may  doubt,  whether  the  words 
of  Christ :  "Ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet,"  were 
intended  to  make  it  a  permanent  rite.  The  Epistles,  while 
mentioning  foot-washing  (I  Tim.  5:10),  do  not  speak  of  it 
as  an  established  ordinance.  Doubtless,  the  underlying 
principle  of  humility  and  service  is  of  lasting  obligation, 
but  a  literal  observance  seems  out  of  place  in  countries  where 
the  people  do  not  walk  barefooted,  as  they  did  in  Palestine. 
Moreover,  as  a  sacrament  of  daily  remission  of  sin,  foot- 
washing  would  be  but  a  repetition  of  the  Holy  Communion, 
which  includes  this  idea  as  well  as  that  of  mutual  affection 
among  God's  children. 

4.  Difference  between  Word  and  Sacrament. 

As  to  the  relation  between  the  Word  and  the  Sacrament 
and  the  difference  between  them,  opposite  views  are  repre- 
sented by  the  Roman  Catholics  on  the  one  side  and  Zwingli 
and  his  followers  on  the  other  side.  The  former  hold  that 
the  ordinance  as  such,  as  an  outward  act,  is  the  divinely 
appointed  means  for  the  impartation  of  a  mystic  grace,  not 
to  be  obtained  in  any  other  way.  The  latter  regard  them 
simply  as  visible  signs  of  the  saving  truth  of  the  Gospel, 


PABT  FIFTH  THE  CHUKCH. 


215 


memorials  of  Christ's  redemption  and  a  public  confession  of 
faith,  and  becoming  effective  for  salvation  only  through  an 
intelligent  apprehension  of  the  truth,  but  not  conveying  any 
gift  of  grace,  additional  to  the  benefit  derived  from  the  Word 
of  God. 

Scripture  teaching  and  Christian  experience  support  a 
middle  view,  viz. :  There  is  no  essential  difference  between  the 
gift  or  grace  conveyed  by  the  Word  and  by  the  Sacrament, 
but  a  difference  in  the  mode  and  degree  of  conveying  it.  The 
Sacrament  by  being  a  memorial  and  seal  of  Christ's  redeem- 
ing work,  becomes  a  real  means,  by  which  that  redemption  is 
applied.  The  difference  between  Word  and  Sacrament  may 
be  defined  in  the  following  four  points: 

a.  The  sacrament,  as  Augustine  said,  is  the  "visible  word." 
The  element  supports  our  faith  by  appealing  to  the  senses. 
It  furnishes  a  tangible  pledge  of  the  divine  offer  of  salva- 
tion by  a  corporeal  contact  with  the  Word.  b.  While  the 
grace  of  God  as  bestowed  through  the  Word  is  mediated  by 
the  intellectual  process  of  human  thinking,  the  gift  in  the 
Sacrament  comes  in  a  more  direct  and  concrete  form  by  act 
and  sentiment,  as  the  message  of  complete  redemption,  c. 
In  the  Sacrament  the  offer  of  divine  salvation  is  more  indi- 
vidualized than  in  the  word  of  preaching.  The  promise  and 
assurance  given  are  special  and  direct  to  the  individual 
("take,  eat;  this  is  my  body"),  d.  The  combining  of  a  ma- 
terial element  with  the  spiritual  gift  has  a  prophetic  signifi- 
cance. It  testifies,  that  the  physical  nature  of  man  also  shall 
share  in  the  future  glory  of  the  redeemed  spirit. 

5.  What  is  Essential  to  the  Sacrament? 

The  apostles,  as  we  learn  from  Acts  10 :48  and  I  Cor. 
1 :17,  did  not  generally  administer  the  sacrament  of  baptism 
themselves,  but  left  this  to  others.  It  would  appear,  there- 
fore, that  the  blessing  of  the  sacrament  does  not  depend  upon 
the  person  who  officiates.  While  it  is  eminently  proper,  that 
these  holy  ordinances  should  be  administered  by  men  duly 


216 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTKINE. 


set  apart  and  ordained  for  the  ministry,  their  efficacy  is  not 
conditioned  upon  the  spirituality  of  the  man  who  officiates. 
However,  the  Sacraments  should  be  administered  according 
to  Christ's  command,  in  using  the  words,  the  elements  and 
the  mode  of  performing  the  rite  as  directed  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

a.  The  words  of  institution  must  be  pronounced  substan- 
tially as  given  by  Christ,  though  no  particular  importance 
attaches  to  the  letter;  for  the  Bible  record  itself  differs  as 
to  the  exact  wording.  Compare  Paul's  version  of  the  Insti- 
tution of  the  Lord's  supper,  in  I  Cor.  11 :24-26,  with  Christ's 
words,  as  given  in  Matth.  26:26-28;  and  the  apostolic  pro- 
cedure in  Acts  2  :28  and  10  :48  in  baptizing  "in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  with  "in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the 
Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  in  Matth.  28  :19. 

b.  The  elements  used  must  be  in  accordance  with  the 
Lord's  directing.  But  here  again  the  spirit  of  Scripture 
and  the  example  of  the  early  Church  warrant  the  belief  that 
the  intention  of  complying  with  Christ's  command  is  of 
more  importance  than  conformity  in  detail.  The  efficacy  of 
the  Sacrament  does  not  appear  to  depend  upon  the  kind  of 
bread  or  of  wine  that  is  used  in  the  Holy  Communion, 
whether  it  be  leavened  or  unleavened  bread  or  a  wafer, 
whether  it  be  fermented  or  unfermented  wine.  Likewise,  it 
matters  not,  what  kind  of  water  is  used  in  Baptism,  whether 
warm  or  cold,  running  or  stagnant,  whether  much  water  or 
little  water. 

c.  The  mode  of  administering  the  sacrament  should  be 
guided  by  the  same  principle  of  carrying  out  the  Lord's  di- 
rection, without  feeling  bound  to  any  one  particular  form. 
It  cannot  make  an  essential  difference,  whether  the  bread 
be  received  with  the  hand  or  the  lips  and  while  the  com- 
municant is  standing  or  kneeling,  whether  the  water  is 
poured  or  sprinkled  upon  the  candidate  or  whether  he  is 
immersed  in  the  water  forward  or  backward,  as  long  as  there 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


217 


is  an  earnest  desire  to  fulfill  the  will  of  Christ,  as  we  under- 
stand it  and  as  circumstances  may  seem  to  require. 

6.  The  Necessity  of  the  Sacrament. 

The  foregoing  considerations  may  suggest  the  question, 
whether  the  elements  are  at  all  necessary,  and  whether  the 
Sacraments  as  such  are  indispensable  for  salvation.  The 
Society  of  Friends  deny  this  doctrinally  and  many  other 
Christians  practically,  by  not  taking  the  Sacraments. 

The  relative  necessity  of  the  Sacraments  will  appear  from 
the  following  considerations:  a.  ~No  believer  has  a  right  to 
set  aside  as  unimportant  a  divine  ordinance  because  of  as- 
sumed spiritual  superiority.  If  Christ  directed  his  disciples 
to  baptize  all  who  want  to  be  saved  and  if  he  enjoined  upon 
all  his  followers  to  commemorate  his  death  in  the  rite  of 
the  Holy  Communion,  no  man  may  say  that  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  obey  his  explicit  command,  b.  No  believer  is  so 
strong  in  the  faith  as  to  be  able  or  desirous  to  dispense  with 
the  visible  and  tangible  pledges  which  are  given  expressly  in 
support  of  human  weakness. 

On  the  other  hand  we  do  not  ascribe  to  the  Sacraments 
such  unique  efficacy  as  to  make  them  absolutely  indispensable 
to  salvation.  The  Apostle  Peter  does  not  mention  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  supper  in  his  epistles  and  John  does  not 
refer  to  either  of  the  Sacraments  by  name.  The  early  Church 
fathers  declared  the  baptism  of  blood,  which  those  received 
who  died  as  Christian  confessors,  before  they  were  baptized, 
as  an  equivalent.  On  the  same  principle,  the  baptism  of  tears 
shed  by  a  penitent  sinner  may  be  considered  an  equivalent 
for  the  Sacrament,  when  the  latter  is  impossible.  Augustine 
referring  to  cases,  where  the  enjoyment  of  the  Holy  Commun- 
ion was  precluded  said :  Crede  et  manducasti  (Believe  and  you 
have  eaten).  Christ's  disciples  may  have  been  baptized  with 
the  baptism  of  John,  but  they  did  not  receive  the  Christian 
baptism.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  Sacraments  have 
the  necessity  of  precept  or  divine  ordination,  but  that  the 


218 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


benfits  which  they  convey  are  not  bound  up  with  them  in  such 
a  manner,  that  they  cannot  be  secured  in  any  other  way. 
Compare  Mark  16 :16,  "He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved;  but  he  that  disbelieveth  shall  be  con- 
demned," not,  "he  that  is  not  baptized." 

Chapter  XLI.  Baptism. 

1.  The  Meaning  of  the  Word. 
The  Baptists  and  related  denominations  generally  hold, 
that  the  word  "baptism"  means  nothing  else  but  dipping 
or  immersion,  but  according  to  the  understanding  of  other 
Christians  it  means  an  application  of  water,  a  washing, 
irrespective  of  the  mode  of  procedure.  In  classic  usage 
fianToo  and  (SarniCa)  certainly  mean  "to  dip,"  but  they  also 
denote  to  dye,  to  cover  with  water  and  to  wash ;  men  are  said 
to  be  "baptized"  (overwhelmed)  with  debts,  with  puzzling 
questions,  showing  that  the  effect  rather  than  the  process  is 
expressed.  In  the  Septuagint  translation  of  Dan.  4:30  we 
meet  the  word  in  the  sense  of  Nebukadnezzar's  body  being 
wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  in  Mark  7  :4  we  read,  that 
the  Jews  when  coming  from  the  market,  do  not  eat,  "except 
they  bathe  themselves"  ^anriGoovrai.  In  Acts  2  :41  it  is  re- 
corded that  3000  persons  were  baptized  in  Jerusalem  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  although  there  is  no  running  stream  in 
summer  time  in  or  near  the  city  for  immersing  people.  The 
"Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  which  dates  from  the 
first  half  of  the  second  century,  has  this  direction :  "If  thou 
hast  neither  (living  water  nor  standing  water  in  sufficient 
quantity),  pour  water  on  the  head  three  times,  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost."  Add  to  this,  that  where 
the  element  is  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  we  find 
"baptized  with  water  or  in  water  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit 
(Luke  3:16;  Acts  1:5;  John  1:26),  not  into,  except  once 
"into  the  Jordan,"  In  the  baptismal  formula  of  Matth.  28 : 
19,  "baptizing  them  into  the  name,"  a  "binding  or  consecra- 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHUKCH. 


219 


ting  unto  the  name,"  rather  than  a  dipping  into,  is  evidently 
intended.  Compare  I  Cor.  10 :2,  "were  all  baptized  unto 
Moses." 

These  facts  show  that,  although  doubtless  immersion  was 
the  most  frequent  and  in  some  respects  the  most  expressive 
mode  of  baptism,  it  was  not  the  exclusive  form  and  it  is  not 
the  only  possible  Christian  baptism.  So  far  as  the  Sacra- 
ment symbolizes  a  dying  and  "being  buried  with  Christ 
through  baptism"  (Rom.  6:4),  this  idea  evidently  is  best 
expressed  by  immersion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  "washing 
of  regeneration"  (Tit.  3:5)  and  the  "having  our  hearts 
sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience  and  our  body  washed  with 
pure  water"  (Heb.  10:22)  will  be  better  typified  by  pour- 
ing or  sprinkling. 

The  real  value  of  the  Sacrament  as  symbolical  of  the 
cleansing  of  the  soul  cannot  depend  upon  the  quantity  of 
water  that  is  used,  or  the  manner  of  its  application.  Im- 
mersion in  an  ocean  of  water  cannot  make  a  black  man 
white  nor  a  sinner  clean,  but  one  drop  of  the  blood  of  Christ 
cleanses  the  soul  from  all  sin.  Since  the  rite  of  baptism  is 
designed  for  all  climes  of  the  earth  and  for  all  classes  of 
men  and  immersion  would  be  fatal  to  some  and  impossible 
to  others,  we  conclude  that  in  administering  this  rite  such 
application  of  water  is  required  as  will  make  the  act  suf- 
ficiently typical  of  the  cleansing  of  the  heart. 

2.  Origin  of  the  Rite. 
Christian  baptism  has  its  historic  ground  in  the  command 
which  Christ  gave  before  his  ascension  to  heaven,  Matth. 
28  :18-20.  The  rite  as  such  is  older.  Christian  baptism  was 
preceded  by  the  baptism  of  John  which,  in  turn,  can  be  traced 
further  back  to  the  ablutions  prescribed  in  the  Mosaic  law, 
for  the  cleansing  of  body  and  soul.  In  the  last  instance,  the 
ordinance  is  founded  on  the  general  sentiment  of  mankind, 
that  an  outward  cleansing  of  the  body  is  emblematic,  if  not 
a  part  of  the  cleansing  of  the  soul.    Lustrations  of  one  kind 


220 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


or  another  have  been  used  at  all  times  also  by  heathen 
nations.  The  Christian  sacrament  differs  from  other  rites 
of  ablution  mainly  in  this  respect,  that  it  pledges  to  the 
candidate  a  share  in  Christ's  salvation  and  connects  him  with 
the  person  and  work  of  the  Redeemer.  When  Christians  are 
baptized  in  or  rather  unto  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Ghost,  this  means  in  the  first  place,  that  they  confess 
belief  in  the  revelation  of  the  triune  God  and  willingness  to 
consecrate  themselves  to  his  service.  In  virtue  of  this  willing- 
ness the  candidates  are  received  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

3.  Significance  of  the  Rite. 

So  far  all  Christians  agree,  as  to  the  significance  of  this 
rite;  but  not  on  the  more  important  question,  in  what  sense 
the  Sacrament  pledges  admission  to  the  invisible  Church  or 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  Church  of  Rome  teaches,  that 
baptism  is  equivalent  to  regeneration,  the  Sacrament  by 
which  salvation  is  imparted  to  the  candidate.  The  Baptists 
and  others  hold  that  regeneration  must  precede  baptism, 
the  Sacrament  being  simply  the  sign  of  the  salvation  re- 
ceived and  a  confession  of  faith.  Most  Protestant  Churches 
take  a  middle  view,  which  neither  identifies  baptism  and 
regeneration,  nor  sunders  them,  but  makes  the  Sacrament 
the  divinely  appointed  sign  and  pledge  of  admission  to  the 
covenant  relation  with  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  Peter,  in  Acts 
2  :38,  adds  to  the  admonition :  "Repent  ye  and  be  baptized," 
the  distinct  promise,  "unto  the  remission  of  your  sins;  and 
ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  and  quotes  our 
Lord  as  saying :  "Ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost" 
(Acts  11:16).  Paul  declares,  in  Gal.  3:27,  "As  many  of 
you  as  were  baptized  into  Christ  did  put  on  Christ." 

On  the  ground  of  these  and  similar  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament,  we  find  the  significance  of  Baptism  in  the  follow- 
ing points :  a.  Baptism  is  a  sign  typifying  that  the  candidate, 
who  is  being  "baptized  unto  Christ,"  is  thereby  set  apart 


PAET  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


221 


from  an  unbelieving  world  for  Christ  and  is  cleansed  from 
the  guilt  of  sin  by  the  washing  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  b. 
Baptism  is  a  pledge  of  the  promise  of  salvation.  Our  Lord 
instituted  this  ordinance  after  the  work  of  redemption  had 
been  accomplished,  for  the  evident  purpose  of  offering  a 
tangible  seal  of  this  salvation,  as  applied  to  each  individual. 

c.  Baptism  is  a  medium  of  salvation,  a  means  of  grace,  by 
which  the  salvation  thus  signified  and  pledged  is  actually 
conveyed  to  the  candidate. 

In  Acts  10  :44  we  read  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  to 
some  Christian  converts  before  they  were  baptized  and  in 
Acts  8:16  the  opposite,  viz.,  that  an  additional  laying  on  of 
hands  was  needed  to  impart  the  power  of  the  Spirit  to 
baptized  Christians.  How  much  of  divine  grace,  therefore, 
precedes  the  sacrament,  how  much  goes  with  the  administer- 
ing of  the  rite,  and  how  much  is  left  for  later  time,  cannot 
be  determined  by  a  general  rule. 

4.  Conditions  for  Baptism. 
The  question,  who  are  the  proper  candidates  for  baptism, 
must  be  decided  by  the  design  of  the  ordinance  and  the  ex- 
ample of  the  early  Christian  Church.  In  Acts  8 :37,  the 
Evangelist  Philip  says  to  the  Ethopian:  "If  thou  believest 
with  all  thy  heart,  thou  mayest  (be  baptized)  and  lie  answered 
and  said,  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God," 
and  in  Mk.  16:16,  we  read:  "He  that  believeth  and  is  bap- 
tized shall  be  saved."  It  is  true,  that  both  these  declarations 
are  wanting  in  the  oldest  Greek  manuscripts  of  the  New 
Testament  and  may  be  later  additions.  But  they  certainly 
express  the  fact,  that  in  the  apostolic  Church  a  confession  of 
faith  in  Christ,  as  the  Saviour  from  sin,  was  required  of  the 
candidates  for  baptism.  Such  a  confession  presupposes  a 
preparatory  instruction  in  the  truths  of  the  gospel  and  a 
corresponding  evidence  of  an  earnest  desire  to  be  delivered 
from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin.  It  is  not  in  accord  with  this 
principle  to  baptize  the  heathen  in  crowds,  with  the  idea 


222 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


that  the  administering  of  the  sacrament  will  make  them 
Christians,  as  has  been  done  now  and  then. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  does  not  appear  necessary  to  wait 
with  the  rite  until  the  candidate  has  proved  the  genuineness 
of  his  conversion  by  a  Christian  life.  If  the  sacrament  of 
baptism,  as  we  understand  it,  marks  the  establishment  of  the 
covenant  relation  between  Christ  and  the  believer  and  the 
beginning  of  spiritual  life,  its  proper  place  is  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  new  life,  not  in  the  middle  or  at  the  close. 

All  additional  ceremonies  and  ecclesiastical  usages,  which 
have  been  introduced  in  certain  Churches,  such  as  anointing 
with  holy  oil,  dressing  the  candidates  in  white  robes,  abjuring 
the  service  of  the  devil,  changing  the  name,  may  be  valuable 
accessories,  but  are  not  essential  to  the  sacrament. 

Chapter  XLII.  Infant  Baptism. 
1.  Antiquity  of  the  Rite. 

The  great  body  of  Christian  denominations,  viz.,  the  Greek 
and  the  Roman  Churches,  as  well  as  most  Protestant  Church- 
es, administer  the  rite  of  baptism  to  infants  as  well  as  to 
adults.  This  custom  can  be  traced  back  with  certainty  only 
to  the  year  200  A.  D.,  when  Tertullian  speaks  of  it  as  being 
in  vogue  in  his  day,  but  himself  disapproves  of  it.  His 
younger  contemporary,  Origen,  declares,  that  it  had  been 
practiced  since  the  days  of  the  apostles. 

As  to  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  it  should  be  admitted 
that  infant  baptism  is  nowhere  expressly  commanded ;  but 
the  following  declarations  should  be  noted :  a.  The  words  of 
institution  of  the  sacrament  in  Matth.  28 :19  read :  "Make 
disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  (or  "having  bap- 
tized"—  f3a7tTi6avT£S)  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the 
Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things,  etc."  Here  baptism  is  placed  first  and  teaching  sec- 
ond, b.  The  command  to  make  disciples  of  nations  naturally 
would  include  the  children  and  as  the  Old  Testament  coven- 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


223 


ant  rite  of  circumcision  was  performed  on  children,  the  Jews, 
when  becoming  Christians,  would  naturally  present  their 
children  also  for  the  new  covenant  rite  of  baptism,  especially 
after  Peter's  declaration  in  Acts  2  :38,  39,  "Kepent  ye  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you.  .  .  For  to  you  is  the  promise  and  to 
your  children."  c.  In  Acts  16  :15  we  read  of  Lydia  that  "she 
was  baptized  and  her  house"  and  in  I  Cor.  1 :16  Paul  records 
that  he  "baptized  the  house  of  Stephanas,"  which  may  be  pre- 
sumed to  have  included  children. 

However,  the  children  are  nowhere  directly  mentioned  and 
the  question  as  to  their  standing,  probably,  did  not  arise 
until  a  Christian  community  had  been  established. 

2.  Various  Reasons  for  Infant  Baptism. 
Several  Christian  denominations  disapprove  of  or  denounce 
Infant  baptism  ("pedobaptism")  as  an  abuse  of  the  sacra- 
ment, a  remnant  of  popery  and  a  violation  of  the  divine  com- 
mand. Those  who  adhere  to  this  rite  do  so  on  very  different 
grounds,  largely  because  of  much  vagueness  or  uncertainty  as 
to  the  true  significance  of  the  sacrament  in  general. 

a.  Many  look  upon  infant  baptism  simply  as  a  time- 
honored  ceremony  and  a  churchly  rite,  by  which  the  infant 
is  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the  visible  church  and  to 
membership  in  the  Christian  community.  If  it  meant  noth- 
ing else,  it  would  be  no  sacrament  at  all,  like  the  baptism  of 
adults. 

b.  Some  who  believe  in  infant  baptism  as  a  true  sacrament, 
bold,  that  it  belongs  to  children  as  a  part  of  their  Christian 
inheritance.  As  baptism  has  taken  the  place  of  the  Old 
Testament  rite  of  circumcision,  they  bold,  that  the  children 
of  Christian  parents  are  in  like  manner  received  into  the 
covenant  of  God,  in  virtue  of  their  parentage. 

c.  If  it  is  insisted  upon  that  faith  is  a  necessary  requisite 
for  baptism,  many  say,  that  infant  baptism  rests  on  the  vica- 
rious faith  of  parents  or  sponsors,  as  in  the  healing  of  the 
nobleman's  son  at  Capernaum  (John  4:50),  the  Syrophoeni- 


224 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


cian  woman  (Matt.  15:28),  and  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy 
(Mark  2:5).  But  the  two  first  instances  refer  to  bodily- 
healing  and  the  third  imthe  words :  "seeing  their  faith"  doubt- 
less includes  the  faith  of  the  sick  man  himself. 

d.  Some  claim  that  the  child  receives  the  sacrament  in 
virtue  of  its  own  spiritual  fitness,  because  it  was  said  of  John 
the  Baptist,  that  "he  shall  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit, 
even  from  his  mother's  womb"  (Luke  1:15).  But  while  the 
Holy  Spirit's  influence  may  begin  with  the  very  first  germ 
of  individual  existence,  it  can  certainly  not  be  shown  that 
an  infant  has  conscious  faith. 

Nevertheless  the  reasons  thus  given  contain  elements  of  the 
truth  and  when  combined  with  each  other  carry  some  weight, 
but  they  may  be  said  to  lack  the  right  starting  point  of  the 
argument,  which  is  found  in  Christ's  invitation :  "Suffer  the 
little  children  and  forbid  them  not  to  come  unto  me;  for  to 
such  belongeth  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matth.  19  :14),  and 
in  the  consequent  right  understanding  of  the  meaning  of 
infant  baptism. 

3.  The  Meaning  of  Infant  Baptism. 

What  is  true  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism  in  general, 
must  apply  also  to  infant  baptism,  viz.,  that  it  is  not  re- 
generation, not  equivalent  to  personal  salvation,  nor  on  the 
other  hand  is  it  simply  a  church  rite  admitting  to  the  mem- 
bership of  the  visible  Church.  But  it  is  the  symbol  and  seal 
of  the  objective  redemption  accomplished  by  Christ  and  at 
the  same  time  the  means  of  grace,  by  Christ's  appointment, 
for  conveying  the  benefits  of  this  redemption  so  far  as  that 
can  be  done  objectively,  without  taking  away  the  right  and 
duty  of  personal  self-determination.  Hence  baptism,  ob- 
jectively speaking,  marks  the  beginning  of  personal  salvation 
through  the  application  of  the  merits  of  Christ's  redemption. 
This  objective  offer  of  saving  grace  includes  two  things,  viz., 
acquittal  from  the  guilt  of  sin  or  justification,  and  the  im- 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


225 


planting  of  the  divine  life  or  regeneration.  Can  an  infant 
receive  these? 

a.  As  to  the  former,  we  know  that  every  child,  as  "flesh 
born  of  the  flesh"  has  its  unavoidable  share  of  inherited  de- 
pravity and  a  corresponding  share  in  the  displeasure  of  God 
against  all  defilement  of  sin,  as  Paul  writes,  "we  were  by 
nature  children  of  wrath,  even  as  the  rest"  (Eph.  2:3). 
Accordingly,  aside  of  any  personal  sin,  the  child  needs  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  for  a  cleansing  of  the 
heart  (compare  Ps.  51:5,  7).  Thus  the  infant  as  such  is  a 
proper  subject  for  the  manifestation  of  the  grace  of  God. 
As  the  sin  of  Adam  is  objectively  transmitted  to  every  child 
because  it  cannot  resist,  so  the  saving  grace  of  Christ,  so  far 
as  it  means  an  objective  offer  of  acquittal  from  sin,  can  be 
transmitted  to  every  Christian  child,  of  whom  the  apostle 
writes  in  I  Cor.  7 :14,  "Your  children  are  holy,"  i.  e.  set 
apart  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

This  promise  and  pledge  then  of  an  objective  share  in 
Christ's  redemption  is  the  first  thing  which  the  sacrament 
of  infant  baptism  expresses. 

b.  As  to  the  other  aspect  of  personal  salvation,  the  in- 
fusion of  the  divine  life  or  regeneration,  we  again  know 
that  all  spiritual  life  comes  to  man  as  a  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  It  is  not  man  who  regenerates  himself  and  quickens 
his  heart.  The  sinner  cannot  even  repent  or  believe  by  his 
own  strength.  "It  is  God  who  worketh  in  us  both  to  will 
and  to  do."  All  that  is  required  of  man,  is  that  he  renounce 
his  natural  enmity  and  pride,  and  accept  the  divine  life  which 
is  given.  The  child,  though  it  feels  as  yet  no  longing  for 
salvation,  at  least  offers  no  resistance.  It  was  doubtless 
partly  for  this  reason,  that  the  Saviour  commanded  the 
little  children  to  be  brought  to  him  that  he  might  bless  them 
and  said,  "To  such  belongeth  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  and 
"Except  ye  turn,  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  in 

15 


226 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matt.  18:3). 

It  is  true  that  Christ  did  not  directly  command  that 
children  should  be  baptized.  But  if  to  such  (even  to  infants 
and  "babes,"  Luke  18:15)  belongeth  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
why  should  they  be  denied  the  sacrament  which  Christ  or- 
dained to  be  the  sign  and  pledge  of  admission  to  that  king- 
dom? If  infants  are  excluded  from  this  rite  because  they 
have  no  conscious  faith,  they  are  to  the  same  extent  debarred 
from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  because  "without  faith  it  is 
impossible  to  be  well-pleasing  to  Cod."  It  is  the  same  Jesus 
who  said :  "Except  a  man  be  born  anew  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God"  and  who  speaking  of  little  children  de- 
clared, "To  such  belongeth  the  kingdom." 

The  fact  that  many  who  were  baptized  in  infancy,  after- 
wards show  no  signs  of  spiritual  life,  merely  proves  that  the 
sacrament  does  not  work  mechanically,  but  that  baptismal 
grace  is  conditional  in  infants,  as  well  as  in  adults.  While 
the  child  is  too  young  to  know  the  meaning  of  the  ordinance, 
it  is  not  too  young  to  be  set  apart  for  Christ  and  his  king- 
dom, nor  too  young  to  be  received  into  that  Christian  fel- 
lowship, which  pledges  to  the  child  the  blessings  of  the 
Church  and  a  "nurturing  in  the  chastening  (better:  training 
or  education-  naidsia)  and  admonition  of  the  Lord"  (Eph. 
6:4).  Unquestionably  such  merely  objective  dispensation  of 
divine  grace  must  be  followed  later  by  a  personal  appropria- 
tion of  this  grace,  in  the  exercise  of  conscious  faith.  But 
even  with  adults,  the  real  permanent  blessing  of  the  sacra- 
ment is  altogether  conditioned  upon  a  faithful  abiding  in 
the  fellowship  of  the  Lord. 

4.  Reasons  for  Preferring  Infant  Baptism. 
The  foregoing  arguments  would  prove  only,  that  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism  may  also  be  administered  to  infants.  It 
remains  for  us  to  give  reasons  why  the  great  majority  of 
Christians  prefer  infant  baptism  to  waiting  until  the  chil- 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


227 


dren  have  come  to  a  mature  age.  Three  such  reasons  may- 
he  stated: 

a.  The  desire  of  Christian  parents  to  secure  to  their  chil- 
dren as  early  as  possible  the  objective  sign  and  pledge  of 
their  share  in  the  blessings  of  redemption.  This  is  a  part 
of  the  loving  provision  which  devoted  parents  make  for  their 
children,  in  the  form  of  gifts  and  preparations,  which  are 
intended  mainly  for  future  use.  They  consecrate  their  chil- 
dren to  the  triune  God,  praying  for  their  salvation,  and  they 
are  resolved,  by  word  and  example,  to  lead  them  to  the 
Saviour,  as  soon  as  there  is  the  first  sign  of  an  awakening 
consciousness,  so  that  the  spiritual  life  may  be  implanted  and 
may  grow  in  them,  simultaneously  with  the  natural  life. 

b.  As  the  sacrament  of  baptism  marks  the  beginning  of  a 
Christian  life,  no  time  in  later  years  seems  better  or  even 
as  well  suited  for  receiving  this  initiatory  rite,  than  the 
earliest  infancy.  For  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  manifests 
itself  even  in  infants.  Children  do  begin  to  love  the  Saviour, 
as  well  as  they  love  their  parents ;  they  learn  to  give  thanks, 
to  pray  to  him  and  to  feel  the  need  of  divine  help ;  in  short, 
they  make  an  experience  of  divine  grace,  in  proportion  to 
their  understanding.  If  in  later  years  the  sense  of  guilt  is 
clearer  and  faith  as  a  personal  possession  is  more  definite, 
the  power  of  sin,  on  the  other  hand,  likewise  has  become 
greater  than  it  was  in  infancy. 

c.  As  regards  the  visible  results  of  the  sacrament,  the 
Churches  which  administer  infant  baptism  can  claim  at 
least  so  much,  that  persons  who  are  baptized  in  infancy  and 
afterward  brought  Tip  in  Christian  training,  are  not  in  any 
way  behind  the  members  of  Churches  which  baptize  adults 
only,  in  Christian  graces,  and  that  the  most  faithful  and 
efficient  servants  of  Christ,  throughout  many  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era,  have  been  baptized  in  infancy. 

5.  Whose  Children  are  to  be  Baptized? 
It  should  be  understood,  however,  that  infant  baptism  is 


228 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


a  privilege  and  a  sacred  trust  granted  to  church  members 
and  it  must  be  regarded  against  abuse.  Unfortunately,  the 
sacred  ordinance  too  often  is  degraded  into  a  meaningless 
ceremony,  or  else  into  a  superstitious  opus  operatum  of 
supposedly  magical  effect.  The  Baptists  are  perfectly  right 
in  their  protest  against  an  indifferent  formalism,  as  well  as 
an  unwarranted  sacramentarianism.  The  administering  of 
infant  baptism  is  in  place  only,  where  there  is  a  reasonable 
hope  that  the  sacrament  will  actually  mark  the  beginning 
of  Christian  discipleship  and  that  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  have  a  free  course  in  the  heart  of  the  child. 

Hence  infant  baptism  is  out  of  place,  where  there  is  no 
prospect  whatever  of  the  child  receiving  such  a  Christian 
training,  that  is  among  the  children  of  heathen,  or  where 
parents  and  relatives  are  outspoken  unbelievers  and  where 
the  Church  cannot  expect  to  exercise  the  needful  influence, 
through  the  Sunday  School  and  otherwise.  The  rite  is  out  of 
place,  where  it  is  merely  asked  for  on  superstitious  grounds. 
Ministers  and  Church  officers  should  take  pains  to  explain 
the  true  meaning  of  the  sacrament,  where  this  is  not  properly 
apprehended  and  should  impress,  upon  parents  and  relatives 
the  obligation  which  the  rite  imposes  upon  them,  to  bring  up 
the  child  for  Christ  and  the  Church. 

6.  The  Rite  of  Confirmation. 

"Confirmation"  was  not  instituted  by  Christ,  but  is  a 
solemn  rite  of  the  Church,  originating  in  the  early  custom 
of  anointing  the  forehead  of  young  persons  and  pronouncing 
the  blessing  of  the  Lord  upon  them,  preparatory  to  their  first 
partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper.  Hence  in  the  Churches 
which  observe  this  rite,  it  connects,  as  it  were,  the  first 
sacrament  with  the  second,  by  making  the  confirmands 
communicant  members  of  the  Church.  Confirmation  does 
not  objectively  complete  the  sacrament  of  infant  baptism. 
However,  the  covenant  between  the  child  and  the  Redeemer 
which  in  baptism  is  objectively  declared  on  the  part  of  God, 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


229 


receives  its  subjective  ratification,  when  the  confirmand  pub- 
licly confesses  his  belief  in  Christ  and  his  salvation,  as  well 
as  a  sincere  desire  to  be  a  disciple  of  Christ.  Such  a  per- 
sonal ratification  of  the  baptismal  covenant  may  and  should 
take  place  before  the  rite  of  confirmation  is  administered. 

The  latter  is  but  a  public  declaration  of  Christian  faith, 
on  the  strength  of  which  the  candidate  is  then  admitted  to 
the  Holy  Communion  and  to  full  membership  in  the  church. 
However,  as  confirmation  is  generally  preceded  by  careful 
instruction  in  Christian  doctrine,  by  prayer  with  and  for 
the  confirmands  and  by  spiritual  admonition,  this  rite  be- 
comes an  occasion  for  renewing  and  strengthening  the  cov- 
enant of  grace  and  for  imparting  to  the  confirmand  a  new 
and  special  blessing  from  the  Lord.  Compare  Matt.  10  :32. 
"Every  one  therefore  who  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him 
will  I  also  confess  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven,"  and 
I  Tim.  6  :12.  In  this  sense,  also,  the  special  experience  of 
Christian  disciples  at  Samaria,  may  be  appropriated  and 
renewed  for  a  class  of  confirmands;  as  we  read  in  Acts 
8  :14-17,  that  "Peter  and  John  prayed  for  them  that  they 
might  receive  the  Holy  Spirit:  for  as  yet  it  was  fallen  on 
none  of  them :  only  they  had  been  baptized  unto  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.  Then  laid  they  their  hands  on  them  and  they 
received  the  Holy  Spirit." 

Chapter  XLIII.  The  Holy  Communion. 
1.  The  Institution  of  the  Rite. 
We  have  in  the  New  Testament  four  accounts  of  the  in- 
stitution of  this  holy  ordinance,  three  of  them  in  the  his- 
torical records  of  the  three  synoptical  gospels  and  the 
fourth  in  Paul's  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  as  given  him 
by  special  revelation.  (Matt.  26;  Mark  14;  Luke  22;  I  Cor. 
11.)  They  all  agree  in  stating  that  the  Holy  Communion, 
also  called  the  Lord's  Supper,  was  instituted  by  Christ  at 
the  close  of  the  last  passover  meal  which  he  celebrated  with 


230 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


his  disciples,  in  the  night  before  his  death.  The  ancient 
Jewish  rite  of  the  passover  was  fulfilled,  when  the  true 
paschal  lamb,  Christ,  was  offered  for  the  redemption  of  the 
world. 

Four  points  appear  prominent  in  the  institution  of  the 
rite:  a.  By  making  the  broken  bread  and  the  poured  out 
wine  the  emblems  of  his  own  body  and  blood  Christ,  in  the 
first  place,  emphasized  the  certainty  of  his  impending  death. 
b.  In  the  next  place,  he  presented  this  death  in  the  most 
comforting  light  as  the  source  of  permanent  Messing  to  the 
disciples  ("given  for  you, ...  poured  for  many,  unto  remis- 
sion of  sins"),  c.  By  saying:  "Do  this  in  remembrance  of 
me"  he  made  this  ordinance  a  permanent  memorial  of  his 
dying  love  for  them.  The  death  of  the  Master,  instead  of 
separating  him  from  the  disciples,  should  bind  them  more 
closely  to  him  in  a  covenant  of  love.  d.  It  should  also  bind 
them  together  with  one  another  in  a  holy  fellowship  of  spirit- 
ual communion. 

That  the  apostles  and  early  Christians  so  understood  the 
ordinance  and  regarded  it  as  an  integral  part  of  Christian 
worship,  appears  from  Acts  2  :46  and  20  :7  and  I  Cor.  11 :23. 
In  apostolic  times  it  was  called  "the  breaking  of  bread," 
because  it  was  observed  at  the  close  of  a  meal,  and  also  the 
Eucharist  (i.  e.,  thanksgiving).  Later  the  names  "offering" 
and  "sacrifice"  were  introduced,  gradually  assuming  the 
meaning  of  the  sacrament  being  a  repetition  of  the  sacrifice 
brought  by  Christ.  Hence  the  term  hostia  (victim),  or  host, 
for  the  consecrated  bread.  As  it  was  customary  to  celebrate 
the  sacred  rite,  after  the  promiscuous  assembly  of  wor- 
shippers had  been  dismissed,  with  the  words:  "Missa  est," 
the  celebration  of  the  sacrament  has  also  received  the  name 
of  the  "Mass." 

2.  The  Observance  of  the  Rite. 

The  commandment  of  Christ  and  the  order  of  the  Church 
prescribe  the  use  of  the  elements,  as  instituted  by  our  Lord, 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHURCH. 


231 


viz.,  bread  and  wine.  In  the  eleventh  century  a  controversy 
arose  between  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  Churches  on  the 
question  what  hind  of  bread  should  be  used,  the  Latin  Church 
holding,  that  it  must  be  unleavened  bread  or  a  wafer,  be- 
cause the  rite  was  instituted  on  the  evening  of  the  passover, 
when  all  leaven  was  removed  from  every  Jewish  household, 
while  the  Greek  Church  claimed,  that  Christ  ate  the  passover 
and  instituted  the  sacrament  on  the  evening  before  the  pass- 
over  and  that  he  died,  when  the  passover  lambs  were  killed. 
If  in  regard  to  this  point,  undoubtedly,  the  Western  Church 
has  the  better  of  the  arguments,  it  should  be  admitted  that 
the  wafer  used  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  in  many 
of  the  Protestant  denominations  as  bread  has  a  very  small 
claim  to  be  thus  designated. 

The  wine  ordinarily  offered  in  the  Holy  Communion,  both 
in  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  has  been  the  fer- 
mented juice  of  the  grape,  as  most  likely  used  at  the  institu- 
tion of  the  rite,  although  it  is  claimed  by  some,  that  the 
passover  wine  was  unfermented.  The  latter  is  now  pre- 
ferred by  many  Christians,  as  is  also  the  individual  com- 
munion cup.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  should  be  re- 
garded as  essential  to  the  validity  of  the  ordinance. 

The  most  prominent  features  in  the  celebration  of  the 
sacraments  are  the  following:  a.  The  consecrating  prayer. 
Its  object  is  to  prepare  the  hearts  of  the  communicants  for 
the  sacrament,  to  confess  the  need  of  Christ's  salvation,  to 
thank  him  for  the  gift  of  grace  and  to  invoke  the  divine 
blessing  upon  the  celebration,  b.  The  pronouncing  of  the 
words  of  institution,  the  breaking  of  the  bread  and  the 
pouring  of  the  wine.  As  the  bread  represents  the  broken 
body  of  Christ  and  the  wine  the  poured  out  life  blood  of  the 
Saviour,  these  features  seem  to  be  important  enough  not  to 
be  lightly  omitted,  c.  The  partaking  of  the  elements.  This 
may  be  done  simultaneously  or  successively.  But  the  com- 
mandment of  Christ  is  not  obeyed,  when  the  priest  alone 


232 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


regularly  partakes  of  the  bread  and  the  wine,  or  when  the 
cup  is  withheld  from  the  laity  altogether,  on  the  pretext 
that  the  body  contains  the  blood  and  that  there  is  danger  of 
profaning  the  blood  of  Christ,  by  spilling  any  of  the  wine. 
3.   The  Controversy  Regarding  the  "Body  and  Blood." 

a.  The  Ancient  Church.  In  the  early  Church,  apparently, 
no  explanation  as  to  the  relation  between  the  elements  and 
the  person  of  Christ  was  attempted.  Justin  Martyr  and 
Irenaeus  (about  150  A.  D.)  first  began  to  write  about  the 
sacrament  as  a  repetition  of  the  atoning  death  of  Christ. 
That  idea  having  gradually  prevailed,  Bishop  Gregory  of 
Rome  (A.  D.  600),  who  first  formally  assumed  the  title  of 
pope,  sanctioned  it  by  declaring  that  the  celebration  of  the 
Mass  meant  a  daily  repetition  of  the  expiatory  sacrifice  of 
the  Redeemer.  About  the  same  time  the  theory  was  ad- 
vanced that,  by  the  consecration  of  the  elements,  bread  and 
wine  were  actually  changed  into  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ. 

b.  The  Middle  Ages.  However,  five  centuries  passed, 
before  Hildebert  of  Tours  (+1134)  coined  the  word  Trans- 
substantiation  and  another  century,  before  a  Church  Council 
held  in  Rome  in  A.D.  1215,  under  Pope  Innocence  III,  gave 
the  official  sanction  to  the  new  doctrine  by  deciding  that  in 
the  act  of  consecration,  bread  and  wine  become  flesh  and  blood 
of  Christ  ("Corpus  Christi"),  though  color,  taste  and  shape 
remain.  Then  also  the  custom  became  general  to  withdraw 
the  cup  from  the  laity,  and  this  practice  was  formally  sanc- 
tioned at  the  council  of  Constance  (A.D.  1415),  the  same 
council  which  condemned  Hus  and  his  followers  as  heretics. 

c.  The  Reformers.  The  Unitas  Fratrum  in  Bohemian  and 
Moravia  from  its  beginning  (A.D.  1457)  rejected  the  doc- 
trine of  transubstantiation  and  held  to  the  view  afterwards 
adopted  by  Luther,  that  we  partake  of  the  spiritual  body  of 
Christ.  Later  the  Brethren  inclined  more  to  the  teachings 
of  Calvin  and  eventually  expressed  themselves  as  most  in 
accord   with   Melanchthon,  in   emphasizing   the  personal 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHDECH. 


233 


presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  without  trying  to  define 
the  connection  between  the  Saviour  and  the  sacramental 
elements.  Luther,  while  rejecting  the  Roman  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation,  yet  held  to  a  literal  understanding  of  the 
words,  "This  is  my  body"  as  requiring  a  substantial  presence 
of  the  glorified  body  of  Christ  in  and  with  the  visible 
elements.  Accordingly  his  followers  teach  -the  real,  sacra- 
mental presence  of  the  body  of  the  God-man  in  the  Holy 
Communion,  so  that  when  the  bread  and  wine  are  received 
naturally,  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  received  by  a 
supernatural  eating  and  drinking. 

The  Swiss  Reformers  were  more  radical  in  their  view. 
Zwingli  in  particular  held,  that  the  glorified  body  of  Christ 
being  in  heaven,  cannot  enter  into  the  sacrament,  either 
directly  or  indirectly.  The  design  of  the  ordinance  is  simply 
that  of  a  memorial  and  an  act  of  confession.  Bread  and  wine 
are  emblems  of  the  work  of  redemption  and  nothing  else. 

The  discarding  of  all  the  mysterious  or  miraculous  features 
of  the  Sacrament  not  being  satisfactory  to  many  Protestants, 
Calvin  endeavored  to  meet  the  want  by  declaring  that  there 
is  something  special  in  the  sacramental  gift.  The  believer 
in  partaking  of  the  elements,  by  faith  is  lifted  up  to  the 
presence  of  the  glorified  Redeemer  in  heaven  and  a  super- 
natural power  proceeds  from  the  God-man,  like  the  rays 
which  emanate  from  the  sun.  Melanchthon,  Luther's  as- 
sistant in  the  German  Reformation,  also  occupied  a  middle 
ground  between  Luther  and  Zwingli.  He,  however,  simply 
emphasized  the  parting  promise  of  Christ,  "Lo,  I  am  with 
you  always"  (Matt.  28 :20)  and  the  fundamental  relation 
between  Christ  and  his  Church,  the  head  and  the  body,  as 
vouching  for  the  real  presence  of  the  God-man  in  the 
sacrament,  without  attempting  to  define  the  nature  of  this 
presence. 

d.  This  practical  view  which  holds  to  the  personal 
presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  without  discussing 


234 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTKINE. 


speculative  questions,  like  the  "ubiquity"  of  the  glorified 
body,  coininends  itself  to  Christians  of  different  denomina- 
tions. Certainly  at  the  time  of  the  institution  of  the  ordi- 
nance neither  the  material  nor  the  glorified  body  of  Christ 
was  given  to  the  disciples  of  which  to  partake.  Besides  that, 
a  strictly  corporeal  conception  of  the  Lord's  supper  separates 
this  sacrament  too  much  from  the  other  sacrament  of  Bap- 
tism. For  the  water  of  Baptism,  though  it  represents  the 
Blood  of  Christ  poured  out  for  our  forgiveness,  is  not  taken 
by  any  one  as  being  actually  either  the  material  or  glorified 
blood  of  Christ.  On  the  other  hand  the  promise  given :  "Lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway"  assures  the  believer  of  Christ's  con- 
tinued personal  presence  with  his  people,  which  by  the  sacra- 
ment is  made  special  and  tangible  in  the  elements. 

As  to  unbelievers,  what  is  said  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  viz., 
that  the  world  cannot  receive  him,  must  also  apply  to  the 
sacramental  gift.  They  receive  only  the  material  elements 
and  not  Christ,  but  the  contempt  of  the  sacrament  on  their 
part  brings  a  judgment. 

4.  The  Benefits  of  the  Holy  Communion. 

As  the  sacrament  of  Baptism  symbolizes  and  pledges  the 
beginning  of  spiritual  life  and  of  the  covenant  relation  be- 
tween God  and  man,  so  the  Holy  Communion  is  the  sacra- 
ment for  nourishing  and  strengthening  this  life  through 
continued  communion  with  our  Saviour.  On  this  general 
principle  the  following  particular  points  may  be  enumer- 
ated as  benefits  of  the  sacrament :  a.  It  is  a  memorial  of  the 
death  of  Christ  and  a  profession  of  faith  in  his  redeeming 
work  on  the  part  of  the  believer,  Luke  22  :19.  b.  It  is  a 
tangible  pledge  of  the  forgiveness  of  our  sin  through  the 
shedding  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  Matt.  26:28.  c.  It  is  a 
covenant  rite  between  the  believer  and  Christ  who  is  the 
"bread  of  life"  and  imparts  to  us  an  increased  power  of 
sanctification ,  John  6 :56.  d.  It  is  also  an  emblem  of  the 
communion  of  believers  with  each  other,  and  intended  to 


PART  FIFTH  THE  CHUECH. 


235 


strengthen  Christian  fellowship,  I  Cor.  10  :17.  e.  Finally,  it 
confirms  the  assurance  of  eternal  life  and  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body;  John  6:54  and  Matt.  26:29:  "I  say  unto  you, 
I  shall  not  drink  henceforth  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until 
that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's 
kingdom." 

While  all  these  blessings  may  substantially  be  enjoyed 
through  the  Word  of  God  without  the  sacrament,  they  are 
made  more  tangible  and  more  direct  by  the  presence  of  the 
elements. 

5.  Proper  Candidates  for  the  Holy  Communion. 
According  to  Scripture  and  Church  rule,  there  are  three 
requirements  for  a  worthy  partaking  of  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  viz. : 

a.  Baptism  and  Christian  Instruction.  The  ordinance  of 
baptism  naturally  precedes  the  second  sacrament,  as  in 
meaning  so  in  the  order  of  time.  A  proper  understanding 
of  the  significance  of  the  ordinance  also  is  needed,  not  in 
the  sense  of  a  clear  intellectual  comprehension,  yet  sufficient 
for  a  true  valuation  of  this  solemn  rite. 

b.  Earnest  self-examination,  resulting  in  a  sincere  desire 
to  be  cleansed  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin,  I  Cor.  11 :28 
•'Let  a  man  prove  himself  and  so  let  him  eat  of  the  bread  and 
drink  of  the  cup." 

c.  Prayer  and  faith  in  the  divine  promise  of  salvation 
and  of  communion  with  Christ. 

The  Protestant  Churches  do  not  admit  children  to  the 
second  sacrament,  because  the  self-examination  which  the 
Apostle  Paul  enjoins  upon  all  communicants  cannot  be 
expected,  until  the  child  is  old  enough  to  make  a  public 
profession  of  faith.  The  custom  of  some  denominations  of 
holding  a  communion  Love-Feast  before  the  celebration  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament  has  its  Biblical  foundation  in  the  Agape  of 
the  apostolic  Church  (I  Cor.  11 :20)  and  is  a  valuable  symbol 


236 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


of  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love,  which  should  animate  all 
those  who  want  to  come  to  the  Lord's  table. 

Some  denominations  do  not  allow  the  administering  of 
the  sacrament  in  private,  because  it  is  a  rite  of  Christian 
communion.  While  this  argument  may  be  urged  against 
the  Roman  priests  taking  the  sacrament  regularly,  without 
the  congregation  participating,  it  does  not  apply  to  giving 
the  communion  to  the  sick.  For  it  is  first  of  all  a  com- 
munion between  Christ  and  the  individual  believer,  and  in 
the  second  place  only,  a  communion  of  believers  with  each 
other. 

Some  churches  admit  to  the  sacrament  none  but  members 
of  their  own  Church  (Close  Communion).  So  far  as  the 
ordinance  is  expressive  of  Christian  fellowship,  the  draw- 
ing of  denominational  lines  may  be  in  order.  Those  who  do 
not  acknowledge  Christians  of  other  denominations  as 
properly  qualified  to  fill  the  requirements  of  communicants, 
act  consistently,  if  they  keep  close  communion.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  conviction  that  membership  in  any  Christian 
Church,  accompanied  by  the  manifestation  of  a  Christian 
life,  is  a  sufficient  qualification  for  admission  to  the  sacra- 
ment, naturally  implies  open  Communion. 


B>art  Siith— jftnal  GbniGS. 


Chapter  XLIV.    The  Immortality  of  the  soul. 

1.  An  Axiom  of  Christian  Belief. 
The  natural  end  of  our  earthly  life  is  physical  death. 
When  the  heart  stands  still  and  the  pulse  ceases  to  beat,  the 
dissolution  of  the  body  begins  and  the  material  parts,  held 
together  so  far  by  the  human  soul  or  spirit,  fall  asunder. 
What  becomes  of  that  soul  itself?  It  is  a  general  human 
conviction  and  an  axiom  of  the  Christian  faith  that  the  soul 
of  man  does  not  perish  with  the  death  of  the  body  but  con- 
tinues to  exist  as  an  individual  essence.  The  philosopher 
Im.  Kant  called  this  belief  one  of  the  three  postulates  of 
practical  reason — with  God  and  duty  as  the  two  others, — while 
the  naturalist  Haeckel  has  termed  them  the  three  buttresses 
of  superstition  which  must  be  demolished.  Materialism 
regards  the  soul  as  a  mere  function  of  bodily  organs,  which 
therefore  will  perish,  when  these  organs  cease  to  work,  while 
the  pantheist  declares  that  the  soul  of  the  human  race,  as  a 
whole,  may  be  imperishable,  but  the  individual  soul  is 
drowned  in  the  ocean  of  eternity.  The  question  indeed  is 
not  about  continued  existence  as  such.  The  evident  conser- 
vation of  both  matter  and  energy  in  nature  excludes  the 
thought  of  annihilation.  Nothing  perishes;  death  merely 
means  change  of  the  form  of  existence.  But  the  immortality 
of  the  individual  soul  and  consciousness  is  to  many  men  a 
matter  of  doubt  or  unbelief. 

2.  Rational  Arguments. 

Ancient  and  modern  philosophers  and  thinkers  have  en- 
deavored to  firmly  establish  the  immortality  of  the  indi- 
vidual soul  by  various  arguments  which  may  be  summed  up 
under  the  following  heads: 

a.  Historical  Argument.    Belief  in  man's  continued  ex- 


238 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


istence  after  death  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  widespread 
human  convictions.  From  the  dawn  of  history  to  the  present 
day,  the  idea  of  personal  immortality  is  common  to  all 
nations.  Egyptians,  Babylonians,  Greeks  and  Romans, 
Chinese  and  Hindus,  Kaffirs  and  Eskimos  have  a  common 
faith  in  holding  to  a  conscious  life  after  the  dissolution  of 
the  body.  Such  a  universal  conviction,  it  is  claimed,  must 
spring  from  an  objective  reality. 

b.  Metaphysical  argument.  The  soul  of  man  appears  to 
have  an  absolutely  simple  subject  in  the  personal  conscious- 
ness of  self  or  "I,"  which  as  such  cannot  perish  in  death, 
because,  what  is  not  compounded,  cannot  be  dissolved.  But 
is  there  such  an  individual  and  indivisible  existence  of  the 
soul  aside  from  the  body?  As  argued  in  Plato's  Phaedon, 
the  soul  might  be  only  the  harmony  of  a  musical  instrument, 
which  ceases  with  the  instrument,  or  a  flame  of  fire  which 
is  quenched,  when  the  material  on  which  it  feeds  is  con- 
sumed. If  all  the  animal  souls  are  perishable,  why  should  all 
human  souls  be  imperishable? 

c  Teleological  argument.  Man  is  conscious  of  capacities 
and  ideals,  for  which  the  brief  span  of  the  present  life  offers 
no  room  of  realization.  The  majority  of  men  do  not  attain 
the  object  of  their  striving,  nor  achieve  that  for  which  they 
have  talents  and  inclination.  Continued  individual  exist- 
ence is  necessary,  in  order  to  complete  what  remains  unfin- 
ished at  the  hour  of  death.  Man  is  the  one  being  on  earth, 
that  has  the  power  to  understand  the  world  and  God  has 
"set  eternity  in  his  heart"  (Eccles.  3:11).  He  discovers  and 
aims  at  the  infinite.  Must  there  not  be  another  life,  when 
this  earthly  life  is  cut  off?  Is  the  individual,  as  some  say, 
to  be  nothing  more  than  a  leaf  or  blossom  on  the  world-tree, 
which  must  wither  and  die,  while  the  tree  of  humanity  con- 
tinues to  grow? 

d.  Moral  argument.  There  is  a  universal  sense  of  justice 
in  the  human  soul,  which  declares  that  right  doing  and  happi- 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


239 


ness,  wrong  doing  and  punishment  or  pain,  belong  together. 
This  connection  is  not  always  maintained  in  the  present  life. 
Man  is  not  adequately  rewarded  or  punished  for  his  deeds. 
Therefore,  we  expect  a  future  retribution.  God's  righteous 
rule  must  be  fully  vindicated,  if  not  here,  then  in  a  life  to 
come.  This  argument,  it  is  true,  presupposes  the  existence 
of  a  personal  and  righteous  God.  As  in  regard  to  the  exist- 
ence of  God,  so  here  and  even  in  a  higher  degree,  all  philo- 
sophic arguments  can  give  no  absolute  evidence,  so  as  to  com- 
pel belief;  they  furnish  but  a  rational  basis  for  the  natural 
conviction  of  personal  immortality. 

There  might  be  added  to  these  arguments  the  occasional 
testimony  of  creditable  witnesses,  as  to  a  direct  evidence  of 
the  continued  existence  of  the  departed,  received  through 
certain  sights  and  sounds,  tangible  manifestations  and  mes- 
sages from  the  dead.  But  such  evidence  is  too  sporadic  and 
subjective  to  be  generally  accepted. 

3.  The  Teachings  of  the  Bible. 

The  certainty  of  a  continued  personal  existence  after 
death  must  be  based  upon  divine  revelation.  The  ancient 
covenant  people  already  had  a  firmer  assurance  of  the  im- 
mortality of  the  spirit,  than  Greek  and  Roman  philosophy 
generally  could  furnish.  "We  read  of  Abraham  that  in  dying 
he  was  gathered  to  his  people  (Gen.  25:8,  9)  and  of  Jacob, 
that  he  expected  to  meet  his  son  Joseph  in  the  spirit-world 
(Gen.  37:35).  The  record  of  the  translation  of  Enoch  and 
Elijah  and  the  calling  up  of  the  spirit  of  Samuel  (I  Sam.  28) 
testify  to  the  general  belief  in  a  future  conscious  existence. 
However,  as  the  Old  Testament  deals  mainly  with  the  present 
life,  as  to  righteousness  and  piety  and  their  reward,  the  rev- 
elation concerning  the  future  life  is  still  very  limited.  The 
righteous  and  the  wicked  alike  go  to  Sheol  or  the  spirit-world, 
where  they  rest  from  earthly  troubles,  but  have  only  a  shad- 
owy existence  of  weakness  and  darkness.    Gradually,  how- 


240 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


ever,  a  higher  conception  of  the  future  and  of  reward  or 
punishment  after  death  became  general. 

Job  confesses  his  conviction  in  these  words :  "I  know  that 
my  Redeemer  liveth .  .  .  and  after  my  skin,  even  this  body,  is 
destroyed,  then  without  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God,  whom  I, 
even  I,  shall  see"  (Job.  19:25,  26).  The  Psalmist  expects  a 
deliverance  of  the  righteous  from  Sheol;  "Thou  wilt  not 
leave  my  soul  to  Sheol,  neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thy  holy  one 
to  see  corruption"  (Ps.  16:10),  and  the  prophets  Isaiah, 
Ezekiel  and  Daniel  interpret  the  assurance  of  the  restoration 
and  revival  of  their  nation,  to  include  the  resurrection  of 
the  individual  members  of  their  people  and  the  restoration 
even  of  their  bodies.  (Isa.  26  :19  ;  Ez.  37  :1,  etc. ;  Dan.  12  :2,3.) 
In  the  days  of  the  Maccabees,  the  doctrine  of  personal  im- 
mortality and  rewards  and  punishments  in  the  other  world 
was  distinctly  proclaimed  and  became  a  source  of  strength 
and  comfort  to  the  pious  (Mac.  7:9,  14). 

This  Jewish  belief  in  immortality  received  a  confirmation 
as  well  as  a  deeper  meaning  in  the  promise  of  eternal  life, 
given  by  Christ  and  pledged  by  his  own  resurrection  from 
the  dead;  as  Paul  writes:  "Our  Saviour,  Christ  Jesus, 
abolished  death  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
through  the  gospel"  (II  Tim.  1:10).  It  is  noteworthy, 
however,  that  this  promise  of  eternal  life  is  invariably 
coupled  with  faith  in  Christ  and  communion  with  him. 
(John  11 :25,  "He  that  believeth  on  me,  though  he  die,  yet 
shall  he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall 
never  die."  I  Cor.  15  :17,  "If  Christ  hath  not  been  raised, 
your  faith  is  vain ;  then  they  also  that  are  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ  have  perished").  Man  viewed  merely  as  a  natural 
being  is  not  necessarily  immortal,  and  sinful  man,  as  such, 
has  not  eternal  life  dwelling  in  him.  The  Creator  alone 
has  immortality  as  an  absolute  possession  (I  Tim.  6:16) 
and  can  dispose  of  the  creature,  as  he  pleases,  or  bring  to  an 
end  the  life  which  he  called  into  existence. 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


241 


Christ,  indeed,  gave  to  the  words  life  and  death  a  new 
meaning  by  saying:  "This  is  life  eternal  that  they  should 
know  Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Him  whom  Thou  didst 
send,  even  Jesus  Christ"  (John  17:3),  and  "He  that  heareth 
my  word  and  believeth  him  that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  life, 
...and  hath  passed  out  of  death  into  life"  (John  5:24). 
This  is  a  spiritual  life  or  a  spiritual  death  beginning  in 
man  while  here  on  earth,  which  must  work  out  its  destiny 
in  the  other  world.  Thus  eternal  life,  in  the  sense  of  con- 
scious blessedness  and  immortality,  is  promised  to  believers 
only.  Independent,  however,  of  such  immortality,  the  !N"ew 
Testament  also  states  distinctly,  that  unbelievers  shall  have 
to  give  an  account  of  themselves  and  of  their  lives  here- 
after and  shall  be  brought  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ, 
to  receive  their  final  doom.  In  that  sense,  the  immortality 
or  continued  existence  of  all  souls  after  death  is  taught  in 
the  Bible. 

Chapter  XLV.    The  Departed  Spirits  or  the  Inter- 
mediate State. 

1.   Opinions  Expressed  on  this  Subject. 

"When  it  is  accepted  and  conceded  that  the  soul  of  man 
survives  the  death  of  the  body  and  maintains  an  independ- 
ent, individual  existence,  the  important  question  is,  what  is 
the  state  or  condition  of  this  departed  spirit? 

a.  Transmigration.  Among  nations  and  people  outside  of 
the  pale  of  revealed  religion  the  idea  of  a  transmigration 
of  the  soul  after  death  has  found  many  adherents,  both 
among  uncivilized  savages  and  among  the  most  cultured 
people  and  thoughtful  philosophers.  It  is  either  on  the 
ground  of  the  spirit  of  man  needing  an  embodiment  and 
therefore  seeking  a  new  body,  or  on  the  moral  and  ethical 
ground  of  the  soul  having  to  pass  through  a  number  of 
births  and  material  forms  of  existence,  for  the  sake  of  its 
16 


242 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


purification,  that  the  belief  in  the  transmigration  of  the 
departed  spirit,  has  been  very  generally  accepted  and  taught. 
Brahmanic  Hindus  and.  Buddhists  agree  in  holding,  that 
until  the  soul  of  man  has  fully  expiated  for  sin  and  been 
entirely  purified,  it  must  continue  to  be  born  in  some  material 
form.  The  Jewish  "Cabbala"  (mystical  writing)  and  the 
Christian  sect  of  the  Manichaeans  entertained  the  same 
opinion. 

b.  Hades,  the  Spirit  world.  The  prevailing  idea  among 
the  Jews  at  the  time  of  Christ's  birth  was,  that  after  death 
all  the  departed  spirits  meet  in  a  place  or  realm  called 
Sheol,  where  they  remain  in  expectation  of  the  coming  of 
the  Messiah  (Dan.  12:13).  This  Sheol  was  generally  sup- 
posed to  be  a  subterranean  abode,  where  the  departed  dwelt 
as  shades,  forms  without  substance,  living  in  a  dream-like 
state.  However,  the  condition  of  the  souls  in  Sheol  was  not 
regarded  as  all  alike.  There  were  two  divisions,  viz., 
Abraham's  bosom  for  the  faithful,  where  rest  and  comfort 
could  be  found  after  life's  tribulations,  and  Gehenna,  the 
place  of  torment  for  the  wicked  and  the  idolaters. 

With  the  prevalence  of  the  Greek  language,  the  Greek  word 
Hades, ( invisible  or  unseen  world)  replaced  the  Hebrew  Sheol, 
and  the  two  divisions  became  Paradise  and  Tartarus. 
Although  the  teachings  of  Christ  necessitated  some  modifica- 
tion of  this  belief,  the  Church  fathers  in  substance  accepted 
these  Jewish  and  Greek  ideas,  about  an  intermediate  state 
between  death  and  resurrection.  It  was  generally  held,  that 
the  spirits  of  the  departed  are  all  gathered  in  Hades,  await- 
ing the  second  coming  of  Christ  which  would  bring  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  Martyrs  alone  would  go  right  after 
death  to  the  heavenly  paradise,  spoken  of  by  Paul  in  II  Cor. 
12  :2-4. 

c.  Purgatory.  Origen  declared  that  no  Christian  could 
come  into  the  presence  of  God  before  he  hod  passed  througb 
the  refining  fire  of  purification,  referred  to  in  I  Cor.  3  :12-15. 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


243 


Augustine  also  spoke  of  the  ignis  purgatorius,  which  no  one 
could  escape  Who  had  not  become  entirely  free  from  the 
pollution  of  sin  before  dying.  Pope  Gregory,  the  Great, 
(A.D.  600)  then  gave  his  official  sanction  to  the  doctrine  of 
purgatory  as  a  place  of  purification  and  training,  through 
suffering  for  sins  that  were  not  yet  atoned  for.  The  inter- 
cession of  the  saints  might  shorten  the  time  of  purgatory. 
This  idea  led  to  the  establishment  of  soul  masses  and 
requiems. 

The  scholastic  theology  of  the  Middle  Ages  then  taught 
a  fourfold  distinction  of  states  or  abodes  of  the  departed 
spirits,  viz. :  1.  The  Heavenly  Paradise,  for  the  saints. 
2.  Hell,  for  the  devils,  the  heathen  and  all  men  who  die  in 
mortal  sin  without  confession.  3.  Purgatory,  for  all  un- 
sanctified  Christians.  The  duration  and  intensity  of  suffer- 
ing here  depends  on  the  degree  of  guilt  incurred.  It  may  be 
for  a  few  hours  or  for  thousands  of  years,  but  it  can  be 
shortened  by  intercessory  prayer  and  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Holy  Mass.  4.  The  Limbus  Infantum  (Infants'  Enclosure) 
for  unbaptized  children,  who  are  not  admitted  to  heaven, 
because  their  "original  sin"  has  not  been  washed  away  in 
baptism,  yet  cannot  be  punished  either,  because  they  have 
not  consciously  sinned. 

d.  Immediate  and  final  bliss  or  woe.  The  Reformers  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  as  well  as  the  TJnitas  Fratrum  before 
them,  rejected  all  these  speculations  as  to  the  condition  of 
the  departed  spirits.  They  held,  that  the  one  sacrifice  of 
Christ  avails  for  the  forgiveness  of  all  sin  and  that  any 
additional  satisfaction  after  death  is  both  superfluous  and 
impossible.  But  being  concerned  mostly  about  the  present 
need  of  salvation,  these  Reformers  paid  little  attention  to 
eschatological  questions.  Hence  the  creeds  of  the  Protes- 
tant Churches,  in  general,  make  little  reference  to  the  state 
of  the  soul  after  death.  The  prevailing  conviction  how- 
ever was  this,  that  death  is  followed  immediately  by  the 
judgment  either  of  salvation  or  condemnation. 


244 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTEINE. 


Accordingly  the  departed  at  once  enter  either  the  state  of 
eternal  bliss  or  eternal  woe;  they  are  either  in  heaven  or  in 
hell;  as  the  Westminister  Catechism  puts  it:  "The  souls  of 
the  righteous  being  made  perfect  in  holiness,  are  received 
into  the  highest  heavens,  where  they  behold  the  face  of  God, 
while  the  souls  of  the  wicked  are  cast  into  hell,  where  they 
remain  in  utter  darkness."  It  was  generally  held,  also,  that 
this  judgment  of  condemnation  included  all  Heathen,  Jews 
and  Mohammedans.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the 
age  of  missions  began,  this  view  gradually  began  to  be 
changed. 

2.  The  Existence  of  an  Intermediate  State. 
The  first  question  in  the  consideration  of  this  subject 
must  be:  Is  there  really  such  an  intermediate  state?  Aa 
the  resurrection  of  the  body  does  not  take  place  immedi- 
ately after  death  and  as  the  last  judgment  is  still  a  thing  of 
the  future,  it  appears  self-evident  that  the  intervening  of 
some  kind  of  an  intermediate  state  for  the  spirits  of  the 
departed  is  well  established.  The  believer  does  not  attain 
to  the  state  of  perfection,  until  he  is  clothed  with  the  new 
and  immortal  body,  and  the  state  of  the  unbeliever  is  not 
yet  absolutely  final,  so  long  as  the  last  judgment  has  not 
taken  place.  The  different  degree  of  maturity  of  the  spirits 
of  men,  at  their  departure,  also  confirms  the  belief  that  a 
transition  period  will  prepare  them  for  their  final  destiny. 

3.  The  State  of  Transition. 
Some  hold  that  the  soul  after  death  has  only  an  uncon- 
scious existence,  is  either  dead  or  asleep  until  the  time  of 
resurrection.  This  belief  is  based  partly  upon  the  difficulty 
of  conceiving  any  kind  of  conscious  life  and  activity  of  the 
spirit  without  a  bodily  organism,  and  partly  upon  the  words, 
"death"  and  "sleep,"  as  applied  in  Scripture  to  the  departed, 
necessarily  implying  unconsciousness.  But  this  theory  does 
not  agree  with  our  Saviour's  declaration  concerning  the  inter- 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


245 


mediate  state.  He  spoke  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  as 
all  "living  unto  God"  (Luke  20:38) ;  of  Abraham's  rejoicing 
to  see  His  day,  "and  he  saw  it  and  was  glad"  (John  8:56)  ; 
and  in  the  parable  of  the  Rich  man,  he  represents  him  as 
conversing  with  Abraham  from  Hades.  What  is  more,  Christ 
cheered  the  malefactor  on  the  cross  by  the  promise:  "Today 
shalt  tbou  be  with  me  in  Paradise"  and  Paul  looked  forward 
with  desire  to  the  time,  when  he  would  "depart  and  be  with 
Christ:  for  it  is  far  better"  (Phil.  1:23).  A  "soul  sleep" 
from  the  day  of  death  to  the  day  of  resurrection  would  not 
be  a  joyful  prospect  to  the  Christian,  who  here  on  earth  had 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  dwelling  in  him  and  who  would  thus  be 
deprived  of  the  blessings  of  a  conscious  communion  with 
Christ  and  with  fellow-believers. 

"We  therefore  look  upon  the  intermediate  state  as  a  state 
of  conscious  transition  from  the  earthly  life  to  the  final  con- 
dition of  man.  Death  brings  us  into  a  new  world,  which 
must  be  a  world  of  realities,  as  contrasted  with  this  world  of 
appearances.  When  the  veil  which  in  this  world  of  sense 
covers  many  things  is  lifted,  when  the  confounding  voices  of 
earthly  excitement  have  been  silenced,  the  spirit  of  man  may 
awake  to  a  fuller  consciousness  than  it  ever  had  before. 
Death  changes  the  environment,  but  it  may  not  change  the 
fixed  character  and  individuality  of  the  departed.  It  seems 
but  natural  to  think,  that  the  difference  in  principles  and 
tendencies  which  here  on  earth  exists  between  the  children  of 
God  and  the  ungodly,  will  become  more  marked  and  the  gulf 
between  both  will  widen  (Luke  16:26).  As  indicated  in  the 
parable  of  the  Rich  man  and  Lazarus,  the  awakening  in  the 
spirit  world  must,  to  him  who  lived  a  life  of  sin,  bring  a 
sense  of  want  and  a  feeling  of  anguish,  in  anticipation  of 
the  judgment  to  come.  To  the  believer,  the  entrance  into  the 
new  world  should  bring  a  sense  of  relief  and  a  joyful  antici- 
pation of  eternal  bliss. 

At  the  same  time  the  intermediate  state  may  be  supposed 


246 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


to  be  one  of  development.  The  great  majority  of  men  die 
before  they  have  attained  their  spiritual  maturity.  There  will 
be  room  for  growth  in  sanctification  and  purification.  We 
cannot  accept  the  Roman  doctrine  of  purgatory,  because  to 
make  satisfaction  for  sins  committed  on  earth  is  neither 
necessary  nor  possible.  The  one  offering  of  Christ  suffices 
for  all  times  and  for  all  sin  that  is  repented  of  (I  John  1 :7). 
However,  in  a  purely  spiritual  sense,  such  a  gradual  purging 
and  perfecting  of  the  spirit  for  the  purpose  of  attaining 
holiness  appears  more  probable,  than  a  sudden  attainment  of 
perfection. 

4.  The  Condition  of  the  Believer. 

Scripture  and  reason,  therefore,  appear  to  warrant  our 
acceptance  of  the  following  five  declarations  concerning  the 
condition  of  the  departed  believer  as  being  well  founded. 

a.  It  will  be  a  state  of  rest  from  labor  and  trouble,  of  de- 
liverance from  the  misery  of  a  sinful  world.  Heb.  4:9, 
"There  remaineth  a  sabbath  rest  for  the  people  of  God." 
Rev  14:13,  "That  they  may  rest  from  their  labors;  for 
their  works  follow  them."  All  the  imperfections  and  in- 
consistencies of  this  earthly  life,  also,  which  originate  from 
the  conflict  between  flesh  and  spirit  may  be  supposed  to 
cease,  when  the  body  is  laid  to  rest  and  the  spirit  is  free 
from  temptation,  b.  The  believer  goes  to  his  Saviour,  to 
enjoy  undisturbed  fellowship  with  him,  as  Paul  writes  in 
II  Cor.  5  :8 :  "We  are  of  good  courage  and  are  willing  rather 
to  be  absent  from  the  body  and  to  be  at  home  with  the  Lord," 
and  in  Phil.  1 :23,  "Having  the  desire  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ."  In  this  sense,  we  may  say  that  the  departed  be- 
liever is  in  heaven;  because  where  Christ  is,  there  is  heaven 
and  happiness.  But  the  intermediate  state  is  not  yet  the 
state  of  perfection,  not  the  attainment  of  eternal  glory. 
c.  As  a  time  of  waiting  and  preparation  for  the  "redemption 
of  the  body"  (Rom.  8  :23),  we  may  expect  a  gradual  maturing 
of  all  vital  germs  of  spiritual  life  that  were  implanted  into 


PAET  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


247 


our  being  while  on  earth.  It  may  be  a  growth  comparable 
to  that  of  a  flower  bulb  planted  in  the  ground,  which  first 
strikes  roots  beneath,  before  the  stalk,  the  leaf  and  the  flower 
appear  above  ground,  d.  Such  a  state  of  rest,  however,  need 
not  exclude  activity  for  Christ's  kingdom.  It  would  seem 
unlikely,  that  those  who  have  served  their  Lord  in  their 
earthly  lives  with  zeal  and  cheerfulness,  should  in  the  in- 
termediate state  pass  their  time  entirely  inactive.  From 
passages  like  Heb.  12:1,  "compassed  about  with  so  great  a 
cloud  of  witnesses,"  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  departed 
are  cognizant  of  events  transpiring  in  this  material  world, 
and  from  the  reported  appearing  of  Samuel  to  Saul,  and 
Moses  to  Elijah  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration,  it  may  be 
inferred  that  at  least  exceptionally  the  departed  spirits  may 
come  into  direct  contact  with  the  world  of  man.  e.  Finally, 
we  cannot  help  thinking  that  they  must  be  able  to  commune 
with  each  other.  Earthly  ties  of  love  and  friendship,  if 
sanctified  by  divine  love,  seem  to  be  an  essential  part  of  con- 
tinued human  happiness,  which  cannot  be  wanting  in  the 
intermediate  state.  However,  the  vague  and  sentimental 
expectation  of  a  universal  happy  reunion  of  all  in  the  spirit 
world  who  on  earth  were  connected  by  natural  relationship 
or  affection,  finds  no  support  either  in  the  letter  or  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  are  led  to  believe  rather, 
that  in  the  world  to  come  all  relations  of  love  and  fellowship 
are  conditioned  upon  the  fundamental  relation  of  the  soul  to 
Christ  and  his  salvation. 

5.  The  Condition  of  the  Unbeliever. 
As  regards  the  ungodly,  we  know  that  the  intermediate 
state  is  also  not  final.  Otherwise  there  would  be  no  judg- 
ment day  for  them  at  the  end  of  our  world.  Furthermore, 
in  order  that  the  judgment  appear  in  strict  accord  with  mani- 
fest guilt,  a  maturing  of  the  sinful  principles  and  tendencies 
of  the  ungodly  and  unbeliever  is  required.  If  physical  death 
is  to  the  believer  the  opening  of  a  gate  which  leads  to  para- 


248 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


dise,  and  brings  a  foretaste  of  heaven,  the  same  gate  must  to 
the  unbeliever  mean  a  passing  into  a  dungeon  or  rather  a  deep- 
er descent  toward  the  final  doom.  To  him  who  has  lived  a  life 
of  ungodly  selfishness  and  sin,  the  spirit  world  must  bring 
a  painful  realization  of  want,  a  loss  of  all  that  was  dear  to 
him,  a  feeling  of  misery  and  suffering,  such  as  is  illustrated 
by  the  outcry  of  Dives  in  the  parable:  "I  am  in  anguish  in 
this  flame"  (Luke  16  :24).  If  the  wicked  take  their  evil  con- 
science, their  envy  and  hatred,  their  pride  and  lust,  and  all 
their  ungratified  passions  with  them  into  the  intermediate 
state,  their  condition  cannot  be  otherwise  than  wretched. 
Compare  II  Pet.  2  :9,  "The  Lord  knoweth  how  to  keep  the 
unrighteous  under  punishment  unto  the  day  of  judgment." 

Holy  Scripture  holds  out  no  hope  of  conversion  after 
death  to  those  who  have  wilfully  rejected  the  grace  of  God 
and  have  thus  committed  the  sin  "against  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  shall  not  be  forgiven,  neither  in  this  world  nor  in  that 
which  is  to  come"  (Matt.  12:32).  There  is  no  "second  pro- 
bation" after  death  promised  to  him  "who  hath  trodden  under 
foot  the  Son  of  God  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit 
of  grace"  (Heb.  10:29.)  For  him  there  remains  nothing 
but  "a  certain  fearful  expectation  of  judgment"  (Heb. 
10:27).  Here  on  earth,  the  sinner  may  cover  his  evil  heart 
and  life  with  the  cloak  of  hypocrisy ;  he  may  deceive  others 
as  well  as  himself,  to  the  last,  with  vain  hopes  of  reformation. 
But  this  deception  must  cease  after  death ;  the  manifestation 
of  the  innermost  tendency  must  become  ever  more  plain,  as 
men  are  ripening  for  the  judgment  day. 

6.  Infants  and  Those  who  Have  not  Heard  the  Gospel. 

But  how  about  those  who  can  neither  be  properly  classed 
with  the  believers  nor  with  the  unbelievers,  because,  while 
in  this  earthly  life,  they  neither  had  any  conscious  faith  in 
Christ  nor  did  they  reject  the  grace  of  God  and  his  salvation 
consciously  or  wilfully.  There  are  three  classes  of  such,  viz. : 
a.  All  those  who  die  in  infancy,  before  arriving  at  moral  con- 


PAET  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


249 


sciousness;  that  is  about  one-third  of  humanity,  b.  People 
living  in  Christian  countries  who,  though  they  may  have 
some  knowledge  of  Christianity,  yet  never  in  their  life  had 
the  gospel  properly  presented  to  them.  c.  All  the  Moham- 
medans, Jews  and  Heathen  of  the  present  day  who  die  with- 
out knowing  the  way  of  salvation,  including  all  the  millions 
who  departed  this  life  before  the  birth  of  the  Saviour. 

With  regard  to  Infants,  we  have  Christ's  promise:  "To 
such  belongeth  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  and  "It  is  not  the 
will  of  your  father  who  is  in  heaven  that  one  of  these  little 
ones  shall  perish"  (Matt  17  :14  and  18  :14).  But  we  are  also 
taught  that  "what  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh"  and  "except 
one  be  born  anew,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 
Infants  also  can  be  saved  only  through  Christ  and  must  be 
regenerated.  Some  are  of  the  opinion  that,  as  infants  at  the 
time  of  death  can  as  yet  have  no  personal  faith,  this  condition 
of  salvation  is  not  required  in  their  case  and  they  are  saved 
without  probation  or  personal  decision.  Some  derive  special 
comfort  from  the  thought,  that  thus  at  least  one-third  of 
humanity  is  sure  to  be  saved  by  dying  in  infancy,  before  they 
commit  personal  transgression.  But  the  dying  infants  surely 
cannot  for  ever  remain  infants,  incapable  of  personal  decis- 
ion. If  all  who  die  in  infancy  are  of  necessity  heirs  of  the 
kingdom,  irrespective  of  any  exercise  of  their  free  will  and 
knowledge,  why  should  not  all  those  who  would  be  lo9t  by 
continuing  to  live,  be  rather  permitted  to  die  as  children? 
If  the  intermediate  state  is  in  any  sense  a  time  of  development 
and  training,  what  is  more  natural  than  to  think,  that  the 
hour  of  decision  and  of  conscious  faith  will  come  to  these 
infants  after  death?  Without  saying  that  every  one  who 
dies  in  childhood  must  on  that  account  go  to  heaven,  we 
may  have  this  confidence,  that  the  love  and  wisdom  of  God 
will  appoint  to  every  human  being  the  best  opportunity  for 
attaining  salvation,  whether  it  be  by  living  in  the  body  and 
in  this  material  world  or  out  of  the  body  and  in  the  spirit 
world. 


250 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


As  to  the  Heathen  and  the  many  nominal  Christians  who 
depart  this  life  without  having  gained  a  saving  knowledge 
of  Christ,  we  cannot  believe,  that  the  majority  of  all  these 
die  in  a  state  of  spiritual  hardening  and  wickedness  that 
would  make  their  sin  absolute  and  unpardonable.  God 
"would  have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth"  (I  Tim.  2  :4),  and  "he  is  no  respecter  of  persons, 
but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh  right- 
eousness, is  acceptable  to  him"  (Acts  10:35).  And  yet  "in 
none  other  is  there  salvation,  neither  is  there  any  other  name 
under  heaven,  wherein  we  must  be  saved,"  but  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ.  We  have  Christ's  own  promise,  tbat  the  Gospel 
"shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world  for  a  testimony  unto 
all  the  nations"  (Matt.  24:14),  before  the  end  comes.  Does 
this  not  also  include  those  in  the  world  of  departed  spirits? 
It  is  admitted  that  the  passages  of  Holy  Scripture  which  may 
serve  as  proof-texts  for  this  belief  are  few  and  of  disputed 
application.  However,  they  furnish  sufficient  ground  for 
the  hope  that,  before  the  judgment  day,  the  salvation  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  have  been  offered  to  all  the  dead  as 
well  as  to  all  the  living.  Peter  testifies :  "For  unto  this  end 
was  the  gospel  preached  even  to  the  dead,  that  they  might 
be  judged  indeed  according  to  men  in  the  flesh,  but  live 
according  to  God  in  the  spirit"  (I  Pet.  4:6).  If  Christ 
"preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison,  that  aforetime  were 
disobedient,  when  the  long  suffering  of  God  waited  in  the 
days  of  Noah"  (I  Pet.  3:19),  what  hinders  us  to  believe, 
that  such  preaching  has  been  continued  ever  since,  by  the 
servants  of  Christ,  to  all  those  who  have  died  before  the  joyful 
message  of  salvation  reached  them.  For  this  means  the 
great  majority  of  the  human  race. 

Some  indeed  consider  this  a  dangerous  doctrine,  because 
they  fear  it  might  lessen  the  missionary  zeal  of  saving  the 
heathen,  before  they  die  and  are  lost,  or  because  it  admits  a 
"probation"  or  decision  after  death.    They  hold  that  the 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


251 


time  of  decision  for  all  men  must  be  in  this  life  and  that 
the  heathen  will  be  judged  without  reference  to  the  Gospel, 
simply  on  the  ground  of  their  ivorks  and  their  faithfulness, 
with  the  light  of  knowledge  which  they  had  of  God  and  of 
righteousness.  (Eom.  2 :6,  8,  "Who  will  render  to  every 
man  according  to  his  works :  to  them  that  by  patience  in  well 
doing  seek  for  glory  and  honor  and  incorruption,  eternal 
life;  but  unto  them  that  are  factious  and  obey  not  the 
truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness,  shall  be  wrath  and  indigna- 
tion.") But  if  the  heathen  could  be  saved  without  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ,  his  salvation,  his  suffering,  death  and  resur- 
rection would  avail  only  for  a  small  portion  of  humanity, 
instead  of  being  the  "propitiation  not  for  our  sins  only,  but 
also  for  the  whole  world"  (I  John  2:2).  Surely  the  decla- 
rations of  Scripture,  .that  men  cannot  be  saved  without  faith 
in  Christ  and  without  his  grace,  are  plain  and  emphatic 
(Acts  4:12;  Mark  16:16,  etc.) 

This  fact  does  not  conflict  with  the  idea  that  the  work  of 
preparation  for  salvation  ("prevenient  grace")  begins,  even 
with  the  heathen,  in  their  earthly  life  and  that  the  response 
to  it  marks  the  fundamental  tendency  of  every  man.  In 
that  sense,  the  decision  is  made  here,  without  a  knowledge  of 
Christ.  The  heathen  may  have  a  saving  faith  and  the  grace 
of  God  working  in  him;  only  he  needs  to  be  brought  to  the 
light  and  to  the  personal  knowledge  of  the  Redeemer,  before 
his  faith  can  be  perfected  and  his  calling  and  salvation  be 
made  sure. 

7.  The  "Place  of  the  Departed  Spirits." 

The  idea  has  frequently  been  expressed  that  the  departed 
spirit  may  have  some  kind  of  an  intermediate  body,  the  fruit 
as  it  were  of  the  earthly  development  and  the  vital  germ  for 
the  resurrection  body.  Some  think  that  this  interim  body 
furnishes  the  medium  of  communication  between  the  departed 
spirits.    In  the  absence  of  any  Biblical  instruction  or  other 


252 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


evidence  for  this  theory,  it  can  only  be  an  interesting  sug- 
gestion. 

Connected  with  it  is  the  question  about  the  place  or  abode 
of  the  departed.  Several  Old  Testament  declarations  give 
expression  to  the  idea,  that  the  realm  of  the  departed  spirit 
is  some  kind  of  an  underground  world  (Ez.  32:18,  21;  Isa. 
14:9,  15).  However,  these  passages  simply  refer  to  the  pre- 
valent idea  of  antiquity,  that  the  soul  after  death  still  remains 
near  the  body  which  is  buried  in  the  earth.  Doubtless  the 
spirit-world  is  a  condition  or  state  of  existence,  rather  than  a 
place;  the  soul  as  such  needs  no  local  abode  and  cannot  be 
confined  to  any  particular  locality.  Still  the  natural  limita- 
tion which  attaches  to  everything  human,  including  the 
human  spirit,  seems  to  demand  some  kind  of  a  definite  abode 
or  sphere  for  departed  spirits.  Shall  we  conclude  from  father 
Abraham's  reply  to  the  rich  man  in  the  parable :  "Between  us 
and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed,"  that  there  is  a  local  sepa- 
ration of  the  blessed  dead  from  the  ungodly?  Does  Paul's 
statement  in  II  Cor.  12  :2-4,  about  his  being  "caught  up  even 
to  the  third  heaven,  into  Paradise  and  hearing  unspeakable 
words, .  .  .  whether  in  the  body  or  apart  from  the  body,"  refer 
to  such  a  heavenly  abode  of  the  souls  of  believers?  These 
and  similar  questions  cannot  at  present  be  answered  definitely. 

This  doctrine  of  Hades  holds  out  no  hope  of  a  second  pro- 
bation for  those  who  have  known  the  truth  on  earth  and 
have  rejected  it,  but  it  avails  itself  of  the  riches  of  divine 
love  and  mercy,  as  open  to  all  who  can  be  saved. 

Chapter  XLVI.  The  Resurrection. 
1.  The  Valuation  of  the  Body. 
The  belief  in  the  resurrection  or  restoration  of  the  body  is 
not  exclusively  a  Christian  dogma.  The  teaching  of 
Zoroaster  of  Persia  (Zarathustra),  and  the  mythologies  of 
different  nations,  as  well  as  the  popular  belief  of  men  in 
general  holds  to  it,  but  the  philosophers  of  Greece  and  of 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


253 


India  almost  unanimously  oppose  it.  The  latter,  realizing 
the  conflicts  which  constantly  arise  from  the  contact  of  flesh 
and  spirit,  declared  the  body  a  clog  to  the  spirit,  a  prison- 
house  of  the  soul,  or  at  best  a  temporary  home,  a  garment 
which  man  must  be  glad  to  lay  aside  when  he  attains  to  his 
perfect  state.  Accordingly  the  blessedness  of  the  future 
life,  as  depicted  by  these  philosophers,  includes  a  permanent 
release  of  the  good  and  wise  from  the  fetters  of  the  body,  as 
the  cause  of  misery  and  the  source  of  evil. 

The  Christian,  on  the  contrary,  who  knows  that  the  ma- 
terial world  is  good  because  God  made  it,  that  the  physical 
part  of  his  being  is  a  divine  creation  as  well  as  his  spiritual 
part,  regards  the  body  as  the  Godgiven  organ  and  home  of 
the  soul.  It  is  only  in  consequence  of  the  apostacy  of  the 
human  spirit  from  God,  that  the  body  has  become  sinful  flesh, 
which  must  be  mortified.  But  such  mortifying  applies  also 
to  the  soul  of  the  natural  man,  and  the  regenerate  are  sancti- 
fied in  body  as  well  as  in  spirit  (I  Thess.  5  :23).  The  physical 
part  receives  a  new  preeiousness  and  dignity  as  the  temple 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  Paul  writes  in  I  Cor.  6  :19 :  "Know  ye 
not  that  your  body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is  in 
you,  which  we  have  from  God  ?  glorify  God  therefore  in  your 
body."  Thus  we  look  upon  the  body  as  essential  to  complete 
our  manhood.  Although,  because  of  sin,  it  must  undergo  a 
radical  change,  it  is  destined  to  share  the  future  glory  of  the 
sanctified  spirit,  in  order  that  man  may  again  become  the 
physico-spiritual  being  that  he  was,  when  originally  created. 
Hence  the  Christian  looks  forward  to  a  time  when  his  phys- 
ical nature  also  will  be  regenerated  and  made  to  conform  to 
the  regenerate  spirit. 

2.  The  Truth  of  the  Resurrection. 
The  resurrection  or  regeneration  of  the  body  is  rejected, 
a.  By  the  materialist,  who  holds  that  soul  and  body  are  identi- 
cal and  that  there  is  no  future  life  and  resurrection,  because 
the  death  of  the  body  ends  the  existence  of  the  soul;  b.  By 


254 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


the  pantheist,  who  teaches  that  the  individual  soul  loses  its 
personality  in  death  and  is  absorbed  in  the  world-soul;  c. 
By  the  Swedenborgian,  who  believes,  that  the  material  body 
cannot  rise  again,  because  the  spiritual  body  has  its  resurrec- 
tion at  the  moment  of  death,  and  the  physical  part  of  man  is 
only  the  shell  that  must  be  broken,  in  order  to  bring  the 
spiritual  body  to  light. 

Over  against  these  denials,  the  Christian  finds  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  plainly  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
In  the  Old  Testament,  this  is  done  rather  by  implication  than 
directly.  Thus  the  prophets  Hoeea,  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel 
announce  the  national  restoration  and  resurrection  of  Israel, 
under  the  figure  of  a  bodily  re^animation  or  regeneration. 
(Isa.  26:19,  Hosea  13:14,  Ezek.  37:  5,  12,  "Thy  dead  shall 
live :  my  dead  bodies  shall  rise."  "I  will  ransom  them  from 
the  power  of  Sheol ;  I  will  redeem  them  from  death.  0  death, 
where  are  thy  plagues?  O  Sheol,  where  is  thy  destruction?" 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  unto  these  bones :  Behold,  I 
will  cause  breath  to  enter  into  you  and  ye  shall  live.  Behold, 
I  will  open  your  graves  and  cause  you  to  come  up  out  of  your 
graves.")  The  only  direct  declaration  of  a  future  resurrec- 
tion both  of  the  godly  and  the  ungodly  is  given  in  Dan.  12  :2  : 
"And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth,  shall 
awake,  some  to  everlasting  life  and  some  to  shame  and  ever- 
lasting contempt."  As  in  Old  Testament  times  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  was  still  a  future  event,  the  true  relation  be- 
tween the  present  state  of  man  and  the  future  spiritual  state 
could  not  be  fully  revealed  even  unto  the  prophets. 

In  the  New  Testament,  however,  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  is  clearly  taught  in  many  places,  like  Phil.  3  :21,  "Who 
shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation  that  it  may  be 
conformed  to  the  body  of  his  glory."  Christ  himself  bore 
witness  to  this  truth  in  public  discourse  and  private  con- 
versation with  his  disciples,  saying  e.  g.,  "The  hour  cometh, 
in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice  and 


PART  SIXTH— FINAL  THINGS. 


255 


shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection 
of  judgment"  (John  5:28).  St.  Paul,  in  defending  this 
truth  against  certain  Corinthian  teachers  who  doubted  or 
denied  the  doctrine, makes  it  an  essential  of  the  Christian  faith 
by  writing :  "If  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  neither 
hath  Christ  been  raised ;  and  if  Christ  hath  not  been  raised, 
then  is  our  preaching  vain,  your  faith  also  is  vain"  (I  Cor. 
15:14). 

It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  this  resurrection,  so  far  as 
it  means  a  restoration  or  regeneration  of  the  body,  is  closely 
connected  with  the  person  and  work  of  Christ  only.  It  would 
appear,  therefore,  that  the  assurance  of  our  resurrection  rests 
on  these  two  points :  1.  On  the  resurrection  of  Christ  as  the 
objective  pledge  and  guarantee  of  the  promise.  John  11 :25, 
"I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life :  he  that  believeth  on  me, 
though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live."  2.  On  personal  fellowship 
with  Christ  and  the  infusion  of  his  Spirit  as  the  power  that 
will  raise  the  body  of  the  believer.  Rom.  8  :11,  "If  the  Spirit 
of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwelleth  in  you, 
he  that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus  from  the  dead  shall  give  life 
also  to  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth 
in  yon."  Thus  the  resurrection  unto  life  is  directly  assured 
only  to  the  believer. 

Independently  of  this  promise,  both  Christ  and  the  apostles 
speak  of  a  resurrection  of  unbelievers,  not  unto  life,  but  unto 
condemnation.  As  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  regeneration 
of  the  bodies  of  the  ungodly,  their  resurrection  may  possibly 
mean  simply,  that  their  souls  will  be  called  up  only  for  judg- 
ment and  to  receive  their  final  doom.  However  this  may 
be,  in  some  sense  or  other,  there  will  be  a  resurrection  of  all 
men,  though  this  may  not  imply  a  restoration  of  their  bodies. 

3.   The  Nature  of  the  Resurrection  Body. 
With  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  resurrection  body,  we 
find  in  the  New  Testament  two  negative  statements,  viz., 


256 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Christ's  word  in  Matt.  22 :30,  "In  the  resurrection  they 
neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  angels 
in  heaven,"  and  Paul's  word  in  I  Cor.  15  :50,  "Now  this  I 
say,  brethren,  that  -flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God ;  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption." 
Whatever  therefore  in  the  present  body  is  intended  to  meet 
earthly  requirements  only,  in  the  matter  of  sex  or  material 
form  and  condition,  will  cease  with  the  life  which  now  is. 
The  future  body  will  not  be  a  natural  or  psychical  body, 
adapted  to  the  present  earthly  nature  of  man's  soul  and  to 
the  material  world  in  which  he  lives  and  moves,  but  a  spirit- 
ual (pneumatic)  body  fitted  for  the  use  of  the  sanctified 
spirit  and  adapted  to  the  regenerated  world  in  which  we  are 
to  live.    See  I  Cor.  15  :44-49. 

Paul's  teaching  on  this  subject  in  the  passage  just  quoted, 
in  Phil.  3:21  and  in  Eom.  8:22,  23,  together  with  John's 
declaration:  "We  know  that  if  he  (Christ)  shall  be  mani- 
fested, we  shall  be  like  him :  for  we  shall  see  him  even  as  he 
is,"  (I  John  3  :2)  enable  us  also  to  make  some  positive  state- 
ments concerning  the  nature  and  form  of  the  resurrection 
body,  viz. :  a.  It  will  be  incorruptible,  honorable  and  perfect, 
not  like  the  present  body  subject  to  accidents  which  mar  the 
beauty  or  destroy  the  energy  of  the  body.  "It  is  sown  in 
corruption ;  it  is  raised  in  incorruption ;  it  is  sown  in  dis- 
honor; it  is  raised  in  glory;  it  is  sown  in  weakness,  it  is 
raised  in  power"  (I  Cor.  15:42,  43). 

b.  It  will  be  Christ-like.  As  Jesus  Christ  manifested  him- 
self after  his  resurrection  during  the  forty  days  and  after 
his  ascension  in  human  form,  so  that  he  was  recognized  by 
the  disciples,  so  shall  our  resurrection  body  be  a  glorified 
likeness  of  the  present  body,  yet  so  that  the  higher  religious 
principle  shall  have  the  predominance  over  the  natural  and 
psychical  elements.  "He  shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our 
humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of  his 
glory"  (Phil.  2:21). 


PAHT  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


257 


c.  It  will  be  a  material  body.  The  very  idea  of  a  body 
and  the  existence  of  a  visible  and  tangible  universe  as  the 
abode  of  the  redeemed  imply,  that  the  resurrection  body  will 
be  of  a  physical  nature,  visible  and  tangible.  It  may  be 
lighter  than  ether,  quicker  than  lightning  and  more  dynamic 
than  electricity  and  yet  be  material  in  substance.  It  will 
bring  man,  on  the  physical  side,  back  into  the  right  relation 
to  God  and  the  universe,  and  through  man  nature  also, 
"now  subject  to  vanity,. .  .shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage 
of  corruption"  (Rom.  8:20,  21). 

d.  It  will  preserve  the  identity  with  the  present  body,  ex- 
pressing the  individuality  and  the  characteristics  of  each 
one,  perhaps  to  a  far  more  perfect  degree  than  was  the  case 
on  earth.  This  would  imply  also,  that  we  shall  recognize 
our  friends  and  all  the  children  of  God  of  whom  we  have  a 
spiritual  knowledge,  even  as  the  disciples  recognized  Moses 
and  Elijah  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration,  and  as  we  are 
promised  to  sit  down  in  the  future  kingdom  with  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob.  The  resurrection  body  will  be  a  perfect 
organ  of  the  spirit  for  blessed  fellowship  with  all  the  saints. 

4.  Connection  with  the  Present  Body. 
There  is  no  need  of  thinking  or  saying,  that  the  same 
material  substance  which  goes  to  make  up  the  present  body 
must  be  preserved  for  the  formation  of  the  resurrection  body. 
Such  a  thing  indeed  is  inconceivable.  In  the  course  of  a 
life  time  the  material  particles  of  a  human  body  are  con- 
stantly renewed  by  organic  functions,  so  as  to  be  changed 
entirely  even  within  a  year.  In  fact,  life  is  preserved  only 
by  the  constant  throwing  off  of  dead  matter  and  the  assimi- 
lation of  new  particles.  The  same  atoms  which  pass  into  one 
body  may  before  have  been  in  other  combinations  and  may, 
in  the  course  of  centuries,  have  formed  a  part  of  many  bodies, 
both  of  animals  and  of  men,  so  that,  according  to  the  Saddu- 
cean  reasoning  about  the  wife  who  had  seven  husbands,  seven 
17 


258 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


different  persons  might  claim  the  same  body.  But  it  is  not 
the  material  particles  which  constitute  the  unity  of  the  body 
in  different  periods  of  life.  In  a  living  organism  identity 
depends  rather  upon  the  continuity  of  the  inward  life  and  the 
formative  principle.  The  infant  and  the  man  are  the  same 
person  through  the  unity  of  individual  consciousness.  Other- 
wise a  person  who  has  lived  eighty  years  would  represent  a 
number  of  persons. 

St.  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  has  explained  the 
relation  between  the  present  and  the  future  body,  by  the 
grain  which  is  put  in  the  ground  to  die,  but  which  produces 
the  stalk  of  wheat.  The  grain  of  wheat  is  entirely  unlike 
in  substance  to  the  full  grown  stalk  and  the  ear  of  wheat 
that  springs  from  it,  yet  the  two  belong  together.  What  con- 
stitutes the  connecting  link  between  this  earthly  body  and  the 
resurrection  body,  it  may  be  hard  to  define.  Some  think, 
that  it  is  nothing  more  than  the  "individual  idea,"  according 
to  which  God  then  fashions  a  new  body  having  the  same 
characteristics  as  the  former  body.  But  the  stress  laid  by 
the  Apostle  Paul  on  the  necessity  of  sanctifying  our  present 
material  body  and  keeping  it  pure,  in  view  of  the  future  life, 
would  indicate  that  he,  at  least,  thought  of  a  direct  physical 
connection,  a  vital  germ  of  the  resurrection  body  which  accom- 
panies the  spirit  into  the  intermediate  state,  awaiting  the 
time  when  it  may  unfold  its  glory  in  the  regenerated  world. 
5.  Transformation. 

This  idea  of  a  vital  germ,  as  a  connecting  link  between  the 
earthly  and  the  glorified  body  may  help  us  to  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  transformation  which,  according  to  Scripture, 
those  Christians  shall  experience  who  at  the  return  of  Christ 
will  yet  be  found  living  on  earth.  For  these  shall  not  die 
but  shall  be  changed  (I  Cor.  15:51-53  and  I  Thess.  4:17). 
Their  present  material  form  of  existence  is  to  be  transformed 
into  the  spiritual  state  "in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  at  the  last  trump :  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


259 


dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible  and  we  shall  be  changed." 
Such  a  transformation  may  have  taken  place  in  the  case  of 
Enoch  and  Elijah,  if  they  were  transferred  to  the  world  of 
glory  without  seeing  death.  The  possibility  of  a  spiritual 
germ  forming  within  the  present  material  organism  would 
best  account  for  such  a  sudden  transformation.  It  is  the 
change  which  probably  would  have  been  given  to  all  men, 
without  their  seeing  death,  if  sin  had  not  interrupted  the 
regular  course  of  human  development. 

Chapter  XLVII.    The  Judgment  Day. 
1.  Its  Reality. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  history  of  the  human  race,  with 
all  the  punishment  of  individual  transgression  and  all  the 
manifestation  of  divine  justice  among  the  nations,  is  a  con- 
tinuous judgment  day.  "Die  "Weltgeschichte  ist  das  Welt- 
gericht."  But  these  temporal  judgments  are  only  partial 
and  imperfect.  Holy  Scripture  announces  the  coming  of  a 
"last  judgment"  as  the  closing  act  of  the  present  world- 
period.  In  the  prophetic  writings  of  tbe  Old  Testament, 
this  "day  of  the  Lord"  was  expected  to  come  at  the  appear- 
ing of  the  Messiah,  who  would  execute  judgment  upon  the 
nations  and  bring  salvation  to  God's  chosen  people.  "When 
Christ  came,  he  said :  "I  came  not  to  judge  the  world  but  to 
save  the  world"  (John  12:47).  At  the  same  time  he  de- 
clared that  the  Father  had  given  him  "authority  to  execute 
judgment,  because  he  is  a  son  of  man"  (John  6:27),  and  in 
his  last  prophetic  discourse,  in  Matt.  25,  he  gave  a  full  de- 
scription of  that  final  judgment,  in  which  the  destinies  of 
men  are  to  be  ultimately  decided.  It  is  an  outward  and 
visible  event  which  will  occur  at  a  definite  time  in  the  future. 
While  we  cannot  form  an  adequate  conception  of  such  a  gen- 
eral judgment  of  mankind,  we  cannot  doubt  its  reality,  which 
is  testified  to  most  solemnly  by  Christ  and  his  apostles. 


260 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


2.  The  Judge  and  the  Judged. 

Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour,  is  appointed  to  be  the  judge, 
as  Paul  writes:  "We  must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ."  He  who  humbled  himself  before 
the  unjust  tribunal  of  Caiphas  and  of  Pilate,  will  execute 
a  righteous  judgment  over  all  the  tribes  of  men.  He  has 
assumed  human  nature,  was  tempted,  as  men  are,  has  died 
to  save  men  from  sin  and  perdition  and  thus  stands  in 
closest  relationship  to  mankind.  At  the  same  time  he  is 
divine,  omniscient,  all  righteous  and  all  merciful,  thus  en- 
suring all  that  is  needful  for  a  true  judgment. 

Tbe  'persons  to  be  judged,  according  to  Rev.  20 :12  and  II 
Peter  2  :4,  are  men  and  angels.  Here  we  meet  an  apparent 
contradiction  in  the  statement  of  John  5 :24,  that  the  be- 
liever "cometh  not  into  judgment,  but  hath  passed  out  of 
death  into  life,"  with  the  declaration  in  Rom.  14:10,  that 
"we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of  God."  But 
the  contradiction  is  only  apparent.  All  must  come  into  the 
presence  of  the  judge  to  have  their  sentence  proclaimed,  but 
the  judgment  of  the  believer  is  one  of  honorable  acquittal. 
Again  in  Matt.  19  :28  the  disciples  are  told  that  "when  the 
Son  of  man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory,  they  also 
shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel ;"  and  in  I  Cor.  6  :2  and  3,  "Know  ye  not,  that  the 
saints  shall  judge  the  world?. .  .Know  ye  not,  that  we  shall 
judge  angels?"  Unless  we  assume  a  twofold  judgment,  as 
some  do,  one  for  believers  and  a  second  one  for  unbelievers, 
at  which  the  believers  take  an  active  part,  the  obvious  under- 
standing will  be  this,  that  the  judgment  passed  on  the  be- 
liever, since  it  manifests  his  perfect  salvation,  is  equivalent 
with  his  judging  the  unbelieving  world.  The  righteousness 
which  the  children  of  God  have  gained  through  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus  and  the  works  of  love  which  they  have  been 
engaged  to  do,  by  the  grace  of  God,  will  testify  against  those 
who  have  not  accepted  this  salvation. 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS.  261 

3.  The  Grounds  of  the  Judgment. 

The  object  of  the  final  judgment  then  is  not  so  much  to 
ascertain,  as  to  manifest  the  character  of  the  persons  to  be 
judged  and  to  assign  to  them  their  corresponding  destiny. 
What  has  virtually  been  decided  already  in  the  particular 
judgment  of  each  individual,  will  in  this  general  judgment 
be  publicly  vindicated  and  proclaimed.  This  character  of 
the  last  judgment  accounts  for  the  fact  that,  in  numerous 
passages  of  Scripture,  the  works  of  the  children  of  God  are 
mentioned  as  the  evidence  of  their  salvation,  rather  than 
their  faith.  As  the  harvest  day  shows  the  fruit,  so  the 
judgment  day  will  show  the  inward  nature  of  all  by  their 
works,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  no  shadow  of  doubt  in 
regard  to  the  justice  of  the  sentence  which  shall  be  pro- 
nounced. Christ  will  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the 
heart,  and  then  shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from  God" 
(I  Cor.  4:5).  But  this  does  not  annul  the  oft  repeated 
declaration,  that  only  "he  that  believeth  shall  be  saved,  but 
he  that  disbelieveth  shall  be  condemned;"  and  "He  that 
believeth  on  Him  is  not  judged,  he  that  believeth  not  hath 
been  judged  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on  the 
name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God"  (John  3  :18). 

There  can  be  no  double  standard  of  judgment,  some  to  be 
judged  by  the  Gospel  and  some  by  the  law  of  works.  The 
works  are  not  the  ground  of  salvation,  but  they  prove  the 
genuineness  of  saving  faith.  Whatever  has  been  said  and 
done  will  be  considered  in  its  relation  to  Christ,  the  only 
Saviour  of  mankind.  The  righteous  will  be  accepted,  be- 
cause what  they  have  done  was  done  unto  Christ,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  and  the  unrighteous  will  be  con- 
demned, because  they  have  done  nothing  unto  Christ. 
Compare  Matt.  25  :45,  "Then  shall  he  answer  them  saying : 
Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  one 
of  these  least,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me." 


262 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE 


4.  The  Final  State  of  the  Blessed. 
To  the  believer,  the  day  of  judgment  presents  a  happy 
prospect,  which  inspires  him  with  grateful  joy.  For  it  will 
bring  to  him  the  actual  inheritance  of  "the  kingdom  prepar- 
ed for  them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world"  (Matt.  25  :34). 
The  blessedness  of  this  future  state  is  presented  to  us  in  the 
New  Testament  as  including  the  following : 

a.  Perfect  "peace  with  God  and  uninterrupted  communion 
with  Christ  and  the  children  of  God.  Scripture  combines 
the  attractions  of  a  home,  the  enjoyment  of  a  marriage  feast, 
the  charms  of  the  paradise  and  similar  figures,  in  speaking 
of  the  future  state  of  believers.  It  means  glory  (II  Cor.  4 :17), 
holiness  (Rev.  21:27),  knowledge  (I  Cor.  13:8-10),  and  wor- 
ship (Rev.  19:1). 

b.  Perfect  life.  The  idea  of  the  "life  eternal"  which  the 
blessed  will  inherit,  involves  a  happy  activity,  without  weari- 
ness and  disturbance.  While  the  perfect  life  of  the  creature 
can  have  only  one  eternal  center  around  which  it  moves,  viz., 
the  triune  God,  the  creator,  redeemer  and  finisher  of  salvation, 
we  may  rest  assured,  that  there  will  be  the  greatest  diversity 
in  the  manifestation  of  this  life  and  many  channels  of  work 
and  activity. 

c.  Grateful  memories.  Another  source  of  happiness  must 
be  the  relief  from  trouble  and  pain,  the  freedom  from  all  the 
sin  and  misery,  which  in  the  present  life  disturb  our  felicity. 
A  thankful  recollection  of  the  gracious  leadings  of  the  Lord 
with  each  individual  soul,  as  well  as  the  contemplation  of 
the  wonderful  plan  of  salvation,  then  first  fully  understood, 
and  of  the  divine  wisdom  and  love  manifested  in  the  history 
of  the  Church  and  the  world, — will  doubtless  furnish  an 
inexhaustible  theme  of  adoration  and  thanksgiving. 

d.  Happy  environments.  As  to  the  place  or  sphere  of  the 
future  life  indicated  by  the  word  "heaven,"  we  are  given 
in  the  Scriptures  but  a  few  intimations,  sufficient  to  excite 
our  hope  and  inspire  our  faith,  but  not  enough  to  enable  us 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


263 


to  form  a  clear  conception  of  what  it  will  be.  We  read  of 
many  mansions  in  the  Father's  house  (John  14:2),  of  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth  (II  Pet.  3:13),  and  in  the  book  of 
Revelation  a  full  description  is  given  of  a  new  Jerusalem, 
"the  foundations  of  the  wall  of  the  city  were  adorned  with  all 
manner  of  precious  stones;  .  .  .  and  the  twelve  gates  were 
twelve  pearls;  .  .  .  and  the  street  of  the  city  was  pure  gold; 
and  a  river  of  water  of  life  in  the  midst  of  the  street,  and  on 
this  side  of  the  river  and  on  that  was  the  tree  of  life,  bear- 
ing twelve  manner  of  fruits,  yielding  its  fruit  every  month" 
(Rev.  21-22).  There  is  no  reason  for  doubting  that  with 
the  glorified  body  the  redeemed  will  also  receive  an  abode 
specially  fitted  for  them,  whether  this  be  our  regenerated 
earth  or  some  other  star  or  stars  in  the  universe. 

e.  Degrees  of  glory.  Finally,  Scripture  teaches  that  there 
will  be  different  degrees  of  glory.  Already  in  the  book  of 
Daniel  it  is  written:  "They  that  are  wise  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament  and  they  that  turn  many  to 
righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever"  (Dan.  12:3); 
and  the  Apostle  Paul,  in  I  Cor.  3  :8,  14,  tells  us  that  "each 
shall  receive  his  own  reward  according  to  his  own  labor;  if 
any  man's  work  shall  abide  which  he  built  thereon,  he  shall 
receive  a  reward;  if  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he 
shall  suffer  loss."  While  all  who  inherit  eternal  life  will 
be  perfectly  happy,  so  that  their  cups  of  blessing  will  run 
over,  the  cup  itself  will  be  of  different  size;  the  capacity 
for  receiving  determines  the  degree  of  glory.  Beside  the 
gift  of  salvation  which  all  recive,  there  are  crowns  to  be 
won.  A  crown  of  righteousness  (II  Tim.  4:8),  a  crown  of 
glory  (I  Pet.  5 :4),  a  crown  of  life  (Jam.  1 :12),  or  a  martyr's 
crown  (Rev.  3:11),  await  those  who  have  been  most  faithful 
either  in  confessing  Christ  or  in  using  the  gifts  and  graces 
that  were  entrusted  to  them  for  Christ's  kingdom. 

5.  The  State  of  the  Ungodly. 
A  dark  contrast  to  the  picture  of  heavenly  glory  prepared 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


for  the  blessed,  is  presented  in  the  condemnation  which 
awaits  the  ungodly.  Their  future  condition  is  described  by 
Christ  and  the  apostles  as  utterly  wretched,  "eternal  de- 
struction from  the  face  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of 
his  might"  (II  Thess.  1:9).  Their  place  of  abode  is  called 
"hell"  (Gehenna,  Matt.  10:28),  a  "furnace  of  fire"  or  a 
"lake  of  fire"  and  "the  eternal  fire  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels"  (Matt.  13:42,  Eev.  20:15,  Matt.  25:41). 
Their  suffering  is  sometimes  represented  under  the  figure  of 
a  being  burnt  alive,  sometimes  under  that  of  being  consumed 
by  worms,  and  sometimes  simply  as  a  being  cast  out  from 
the  king's  palace  into  the  cold  darkness  outside,  where  "there 
shall  be  the  weeping  and  the  gnashing  of  teeth"  (Luke  13  :28). 

It  is  evident  that  the  figure  of  hell  or  gehenna,  as  a  place 
where  the  fire  is  not  quenched  and  their  worm  does  not  die 
(Mark  10:48),  is  drawn  from  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  south 
of  Jerusalem,  the  sewer  of  the  city,  where  the  rubbish  and 
carcasses  were  thrown  to  be  devoured  of  vultures  or  gnawed 
by  worms,  and  where  fires  were  kept  up  to  consume  the 
refuse  and  to  purify  the  atmosphere.  Accordingly  it  is  not 
essential  to  insist  upon  there  being  a  material  hell-fire,  more 
than  to  take  the  worm  which  never  dies  to  be  a  material 
worm.  Yet  the  sufferings  of  the  ungodly  may  be  equal  to, 
if  not  surpassing  any  picture  that  human  imagination  has 
drawn. 

These  sufferings  must  be  supposed  to  arise  from  the  fol- 
lowing causes :  a.  The  loss  of  all  earthly  pleasures  which  con- 
stitute the  highest  good  and  the  only  source  of  happiness  of 
the  ungodly.  The  appetite  and  passion  remain,  but  there  is 
no  more  gratification  (Luke  16:24,  "Send  Lazaraus  that  he 
may  dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue"). 

b.  Exclusion  from  the  presence  and  favor  of  God,  which  in- 
volves an  absolute  separation  from  Him,  who  is  the  source 
of  all  happiness  (Matt.  25:41,  "Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed"). 

c.  Unrestrained  dominion  of  sinful  passions,  without  any  re- 


PAET  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


265 


deeming  feature.  If  the  love  of  God  and  of  each  other  will 
he  the  chief  cause  of  the  happiness  of  the  redeemed,  the  abso- 
lute selfishness  and  hatred  which  must  be  supposed  to  sway 
the  condemned,  must  make  their  state  most  unhappy,  espe- 
cially if  it  is  combined  with  a  compulsory  association  of  like 
beings,  so  that  their  envy  and  fury  can  only  turn  against 
each  other.  (Rev.  22 :15,  "Without  are  the  dogs  and  the 
sorcerers  and  the  fornicators  and  the  murderers  and  the 
idolaters  and  every  one  that  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie.") 

Chapter  XL VIII.  The  Future  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
1.  The  Importance  of  the  Subject. 

The  Holy  Scriptures  not  only  tell  us  of  a  beginning  of 
human  history  but  also  of  a  consummation  of  all  earthly 
things  in  the  future.  Though  an  unbelieving  world  declares 
that  "all  things  continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning 
of  the  creation"  (II  Pet.  3:4),  Christians  are  taught  to  look 
forward  to  a  final  goal  of  the  earthly  development,  when 
the  kingdom  of  nature  and  the  kingdom  of  grace  will  be 
united  in  the  kingdom  of  glory.  To  this  end  Christians  are 
admonished  to  watch  the  "signs  of  the  times"  (Matt.  16:3) 
and  the  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  for  the  coming 
of  which  they  pray.  They  are  to  do  their  part  toward  bring- 
ing about  its  consummation,  knowing  also  that  the  individual 
believer  is  to  find  his  perfection  only  in  connection  with  the 
general  establishment  and  triumph  of  that  kingdom,  as  the 
writer  to  the  Hebrews  testifies  in  saying:  "These  all  having 
had  witness  borne  to  them  through  their  faith,  received  not 
the  promise,  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  con- 
cerning us,  that  apart  from  us  they  should  not  be  made 
perfect"  (Heb.  11:39,  40). 

However,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  this  consummation 
will  be  brought  about,  we  are  largely  in  the  same  condition, 
as  were  the  Old  Testament  believers  with  regard  to  "the  day 
of  the  Lord"  and  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.    They  did  not 


266 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


understand  all  the  prophecies  that  were  given  and  were 
unable  to  harmonize  some  of  them,  like  the  promise  of  the 
glorious  and  unending  reign  of  the  Christ,  with  the  picture 
of  the  suffering  and  dying  servant  of  Jehovah.  The  per- 
spective of  prophecy  and  the  typical  character  of  so  many 
events  in  the  history  of  the  divine  revelation  did  not  enable 
them  to  always  grasp  the  pragmatism  of  history  before- 
hand, and  many  prophecies  were  eventually  fulfilled  in  a 
manner  entirely  different  from  what  nearly  every  one  ex- 
pected. Thus  likewise  the  general  course  of  the  future  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  and  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  been 
indicated  to  us,  but  all  detail  is  largely  a  matter  of  un- 
certainty. 

2.  Early  Expectations. 

Our  Saviour  himself,  while  on  earth,  appears  to  have 
generally  spoken  of  the  end  of  this  "age"  or  world-period 
as  near  at  hand  (Matt.  16:28;  24:34);  although  there  are 
some  declarations  of  his  recorded  which  imply  a  longer 
delay,  such  as  that  "the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  the  whole  world,  for  a  testimony  unto  all  the 
nations,  and  then  shall  the  end  come,"  and,  "Jerusalem 
shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  be  fulfilled"  (Matt.  24:14  and  Luke  21:24). 

Accordingly,  the  apostolic  writings,  in  general,  looked 
forward  to  a  near  end.  Paul,  Peter  and  John,  in  their 
Epistles,  expressed  the  hope  of  a  speedy  return  of  Christ ; 
compare  I  Thess.  4 :15,  I  Pet.  4 :7  and  I  John  2  :18.  The  Old 
Testament  prophecies  had  connected  the  first  and  the  second 
coming  of  the  Messiah,  or  "the  day  of  the  Lord,"  so  closely, 
that  the  intervening  period  was  expected  to  be  of  short 
duration.  Besides  that,  the  persecutions  which  the  early 
Christians  experienced  caused  them  to  long  very  earnestly 
for  a  speedy  deliverance  from  trouble.  While  the  Apostle 
Paul,  in  his  later  Epistles,  had  become  convinced  that  he  at 
least  would  not  live  to  see  the  return  of  Christ  (II  Tim. 
4:6,  8),  the  book  of  Revelation  again  placed  the  fulfilment 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


267 


of  the  prophecies,  the  corning  of  Christ  and  the  consumma- 
tion of  his  kingdom,  in  the  immediate  future.  (Eev.  1 :7, 
22  :20,  "He  who  testifieth  these  things  saith,  Yea :  I  come 
quickly.  Amen,  come,  Lord  Jesus.")  This  expectation  was 
not  altogether  mistaken.  According  to  the  divinely  arranged 
parallelism  of  historic  events  and  the  typical  character  of 
Biblical  prophecy,  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  the 
prophecies  uttered  find  their  fulfilment  in  a  succession  of 
events,  which  in  point  of  time  may  be  far  apart,  yet  are 
parts  of  the  same  development.  The  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  victory  of  Christianity  over  .the  hostile  Roman 
world-power  were  a  partial  fulfilment  of  the  expectation  of 
the  end  of  the  world,  and  of  the  coming  of  Christ  in  his  glory. 

3.  The  Millennium  Idea. 
While  the  Christian  Church  was  still  suffering  persecu- 
tion, there  arose  the  so-called  Millennium  expectation  based 
upon  Rev.  20  :l-6,  namely,  that  at  the  coming  of  Christ,  the 
devil  and  the  evil  powers  would  be  bound  for  a  thousand 
years  and  Christ  would  establish  a  kingdom  on  earth  which 
would  last  one  thousand  years.  Among  prominent  church 
fathers,  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian  especially  favored  this  ex- 
pectation, while  Origen  and  Clement  of  Alexandria  opposed 
it.  When  the  persecution  ceased  in  the  reign  of  Constan- 
tine,  the  interest  in  the  Millennium  waned.  Augustine 
suggested,  that  the  reign  of  Christ  on  earth  had  begun  with 
the  founding  of  the  Christian  Church  and  as  the  Church 
continued  to  grow  in  power,  wealth  and  extension,  the 
fondest  hopes  with  regard  to  the  kingdom  of  glory  seemed 
to  have  a  prospect  of  immediate  fulfilment.  Under  the  im- 
pression that  the  Millennium  had  actually  commenced,  fears 
were  entertained  that  after  the  crusades  it  might  come  to  an 
end. 

The  persecuted  Christians  of  the  middle  ages,  however, 
continued  to  wait  for  the  coming  of  Christ  as  the  time  of 
the  destruction  of  the  anti-Christian   powers   and   of  the 


268 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom.  The  fact  that,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation,  the  Anabaptists  revived  the 
millennial  hope  in  a  somewhat  fanatical  manner,  caused  the 
Protestant  Reformers  to  throw  aside  as  unchristian  the  en- 
tire idea  of  a  reign  of  Christ  on  earth  and  the  Protestant 
creeds  accordingly,  as  drawn  up  after  the  Reformation, 
have  very  little  to  say  about  the  future  of  the  Church. 

It  was  Spener,  the  father  of  Pietism,  (the  religious  revival 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,)  who  again  advo- 
cated the  belief  that  before  the  return  of  Christ  to  this 
earth,  there  would  come  a  time  of  great  spiritual  advance- 
ment together  with  great  general  prosperity,  a  period,  when 
the  power  of  evil  would  be  broken,  when  Israel  as  a  nation 
would  accept  Christ  as  their  Messiah  and  when  the  Gospel 
would  have  universal  sway.  The  Wiirtemberg  theologian 
and  Bible  student,  A.  Bengel  (+1752),  in  his  commen- 
tary on  the  book  of  Revelation,  was  the  first  to  give  a  de- 
tailed statement  of  the  prospective  fulfillment  of  eschato- 
logical  prophecy.  He  fixed  the  time  of  the  coming  of  Anti- 
christ for  the  years  1831-1836  and  the  beginning  of  the 
Millennium  for  1836.  The  facts  of  history  have  proved  that 
his  chronology,  at  least,  was  an  error.  The  first  "Adventists" 
in  America,  the  followers  of  William  Miller,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, who  believed  that  Christ  would  return  to  our  earth 
in  July  of  1843,  experienced  the  same  disappointment. 
3.  Objections  to  the  Millennial  Expectation. 

While  the  great  majority  of  Christians  in  our  day  are 
indifferent  to  the  question  of  a  coming  Millennium,  there 
are  still  many  devout  and  earnest  believers  who  fervently 
hold  to  this  hope.  But  they  are  divided  into  postmillennial 
and  premillennial  believers. 

The  former  expect  the  Millennium  to  precede  Christ's 
return,  while  the  latter  regard  the  coming  of  the  Saviour 
as  the  necessary  condition  and  preparation  for  the  establish- 
ment of  his  kingdom.    The  practical  value  of  the  considera- 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


269 


tion  of  this  question  lies  in  the  bearing  which  it  has  upon 
the  immediate  future  of  the  Church  and  the  cause  of  Christ. 
In  the  post-millennial  theory  the  prospects  for  the  general 
conversion  of  the  world  and  the  success  of  every  effort  for 
the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom  are  bright;  we  may 
expect  an  uninterrupted  progress,  victory  after  victory, 
until  righteousness  covers  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the 
sea.  In  the  pre-millennial  view,  the  world  at  large  will 
remain  either  indifferent  or  hostile  to  Christ.  The  revivals 
with  which  the  Church  is  blessed  here  and  there,  do  not 
mark  the  beginning  of  a  general  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  but  only  temporary  results  which  eventually  will  be 
overthrown  in  the  great  apostacy  of  the  last  times.  Conse- 
quently all  missionary  work  and  all  efforts  for  social  and 
national  reform  can  only  have  individual  conversions  and 
partial  success  in  prospect. 

There  are  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  accepting  the 
belief  in  a  literal  Millennium  before  or  after  the  advent  of 
Christ.  Against  &  Millennium  before  the  coming  of  Christ 
the  following  arguments  are  presented : 

a.  In  the  great  prophetic  discourse  of  Christ  recorded  in 
Matthew,  it  is  distinctly  stated,  that  when  the  Son  of  man 
comes,  the  world  will  be  in  the  same  mood  as  in  the  days  of 
Noah,  "eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in  mar- 
riage, until  the  day  that  Noah  entered  into  the  ark,  and  they 
knew  not,  until  the  flood  came  and  took  them  all  away;  so 
shall  be  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man"  (Matt.  24:38,  39). 
We  also  read  of  persecutions  of  the  children  of  God  which 
will  be  brought  to  an  end  only  by  Christ's  appearing,  and 
of  "Antichrist,"  the  enemy  of  God's  people,  being  destroyed 
at  the  coming  of  Christ  (II  Thess.  1  :7,  8  and  2  :8). 

b.  Christians  are  exhorted  to  watch  for  their  Lord's  re- 
turn, which  will  not  be  known  before  hand,  but  "as  a  thief 
cometh  in  the  night"  or  as  the  bridegroom  after  the  virgins 
have  fallen  asleep  (Matt.  24:42,  43  and  25:6).    Such  ex- 


270 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


hortation  would  be  unnecessary,  if  a  Millennium  of  spiritual 
prosperity  preceded  the  second  advent. 

c  The  fulfillment  of  prophecies  which  are  generally  re- 
ferred to  this  earthly  Millennium,  would  require  such  a 
complete  change  of  the  condition  of  the  earth,  such  a  re- 
generation, as  can  come  only  by  a  direct,  and  supernatural 
interposition  of  Christ. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  equally  strong  arguments 
against  the  expectation  of  an  earthly  Millennium  after 
Christ's  coming: 

a.  Christ  and  St.  Paul  teach  that,  when  Christ  returns, 
the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  all  be  gathered  before  his 
judgment  seat  to  receive  their  final  sentence.  Hence  there 
is  no  room  for  an  earthly  Millennium,  based  on  present  re- 
lations, after  the  judgment  (Matt.  25:32,  II  Thess.  1:9,  10). 

b  It  seems  inconceiveable  that  during  Christ's  reign  on 
earth,  in  the  Millennium,  sinful  men  shall  continue  to  live 
and  to  multiply  and  heathen  tribes  remain  unconverted. 
But  if  not,  how  shall  we  account  for  the  appearance  of  "the 
nations,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  together  to  the  war;  the 
number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea?"  (Eev.  20:8). 

In  view  of  these  arguments  there  seems  to  be  very  little 
ground  for  the  expectation  of  a  literal  Millennium  on  earth, 
such  as  Kev.  20  :l-7  is  supposed  to  predict.  While  there  are 
certain  other  Scripture  passages  that  may  be  applied  to  an 
earthly,  visible  reign  of  Christ,  such  as  Matt.  5 :5,  "they  shall 
inherit  the  earth ;"  Luke  19  :17,  "have  thou  authority  over 
ten  cities;"  Matt.  26:29,  "that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with 
you  in  my  Father's  kingdom ;"  not  one  of  these  in  itself  re- 
quires a  millennial  interpretation.  The  Apostle  John, 
the  supposed  writer  of  the  book  of  Revelation,  makes  no 
other  mention  of  the  Millennium  in  the  Gospel  and  the 
Epistles. 

This  obscure  passage,  therefore,  which  is  found  in  one  of 
the  most  figurative  books  of  the  Bible,  must  be  interpreted  by 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


273 


other  and  plainer  statements.  Closely  examined,  it  does  not 
teach  a  visible  reign  of  Christ  on  earth,  but  may  be  in- 
terpreted as  referring  to  an  anticipation  of  eternal  bliss 
enjoyed  by  the  departed  believers.  That,  however,  does  not 
exclude  the  idea,  that  before  the  course  of  the  present  world's 
history  runs  out,  there  will  be  a  general,  great  advancement 
in  knowledge,  prosperity  and  enjoyment  of  divine  blessings 
by  all  men,  and  that  the  cause  of  Christ  may  triumph  over 
the  powers  of  evil,  within  and  without,  in  such  a  manner,  as 
to  make  it  possible  to  speak  of  an  actual  reign  of  Christ  in 
his  kingdom.  But  the  event  which  the  Church  is  directed  to 
look  for,  is  the  coming  of  Christ  rather  than  a  Millennium. 

4.  7s  there  a  Twofold  Bodily  Resurrection? 

The  passage  of  Eev.  20:5-6  is  also  frequently  quoted  as 
teaching  a  twofold  resurrection  from  the  dead,  viz.,  first  a 
resurrection  of  the  saints,  which  is  to  occur  before  the  Mil- 
lennium, and  a  general  resurrection  of  the  rest  of  the  dead, 
after  the  Millennium.  There  are  some  other  statements  of 
Scripture  which  can  be  understood  in  the  same  sense,  but 
do  not  by  themselves  require  this  interpretation.  Such  are 
Luke  14:14,  "Thou  shalt  be  recompensed  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  just;"  I  Thess.  4:16,  "For  the  Lord  himself  shall 
descend  from  heaven,  with  a  shout. .  .and  the  dead  in  Christ 
shall  rise  first  ;"  Phil.  3:11,  "If  by  any  means  I  may  attain 
unto  the  resurrection  out  of  the  dead  (  s^avafftaffis  and 
I  Cor.  15  :22-23,  "As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive;  but  each  in  his  own  order:  Christ  the 
first  fruits,  then  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming.  Then 
cometh  the  end." 

Over  against  these  few  passages,  however,  we  have  the 
frequent  and  definite  declarations  of  one  universal  resurrec- 
tion, both  of  the  godly  and  ungodly,  e.  g.,  John  5:28,29  and 
6:40,  "Marvel  not  at  this;  for  the  hour  cometh,  in  which  all 
that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice  and  shall  come 
forth,  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of 


272 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


life;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
judgment."  The  seemingly  different  statements  quoted 
before,  are  easily  harmonized  with  this  declaration.  "The 
dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first/'  is  not  in  antithesis  to  a  later 
resurrection,  but  as  the  context  shows,  it  states  that  the  dead 
shall  "first"  rise  before  the  living  are  changed.  Likewise 
in  I  Cor.  15  :22,  there  is  no  reference  to  a  second  resurrection 
of  the  ungodly,  in  the  words  "then  the  end,"  but  to  Christ 
delivering  the  kingdom  of  God  the  Father.  In  short,  a 
twofold  bodily  resurrection  is  not  anywhere  in  the  new 
Testament  distinctly  taught,  unless  Rev.  20  :5  and  6  is  taken 
literally  and  not  interpreted  as  referring  to  a  spiritual 
quickening. 

However,  the  remarkable  statement  in  Matt.  27 :52,  53, 
that  at  the  time  of  Christ's  resurrection  on  Easter  day,  "the 
tombs  were  opened ;  and  many  bodies  of  the  saints  that  had 
fallen  asleep  were  raised,  and  coming  forth  out  of  the  tombs, 
after  his  resurrection,  they  entered  into  the  holy  city  and 
appeared  unto  many,"  indicates  the  belief  that  some  of  the 
departed  may  rise  in  anticipation  of  the  general  resurrection ; 
and  there  is  no  positive  reason  against  such  a  belief. 

Chapter  XLIX.  Final  Events  and  the  Coming  of  Christ. 
1.  Certainty  of  Christ's  Return. 
"Whatever  opinion  may  be  held  with  regard  to  "the  Mil- 
lennium," it  is  certain  that  the  New  Testament  teaches  a 
visible  and  glorious  return  of  Christ  to  this  earth.  The 
Evangelists  report  that  the  Saviour,  especially  in  his  part- 
ing discourses  to  the  disciples,  gave  them  repeated  assur- 
ances of  his  coming  again  (Luke  17:24;  21:27)  and  that  at 
Christ's  ascension  they  heard  a  heavenly  message  to  this 
effect,  that  "this  Jesus  who  was  received  up  from  you  into 
heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  beheld  him  going 
into  heaven"  (Acts  1:11).  This  is  the  great  fact  toward 
which  the  whole  New  Testament  looks.    It  appears  already 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


273 


on  the  horizon  of  the  Old  Testament  prophecy,  in  such 
passages  as  Zech.  14:1-4  and  12:10;  Dan.  7:13,  14,  hut  not 
clearly  distinguished  from  other  typical  advents  of  the  Lord. 

The  actual  bodily  return  of  Christ  is  doubted  by  those 
who  claim  that  the  announced  coming  (  napovaia  )  means 
nothing  more  than  the  spiritual  "presence"  of  Christ,  since 
his  ascension.  Christ  does  come  to  the  individual  when  he 
calls  him  home  by  the  angel  of  death,  he  came  to  the  circle 
of  disciples  on  Pentecost,  by  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  he  came  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  sending 
the  Roman  eagles  and  he  has  come  since,  often  times,  bring- 
ing salvation  or  judgment  to  the  world  and  the  Church ;  but 
these  partial  and  typical  comings  are  to  be  concluded  by  a 
final  and  perfect  self-manifestation  of  the  God-man. 

Whatever  actual  progress  has  been  made  and  is  being 
made  in  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God  here  on 
earth,  in  "overcoming  evil  with  good"  in  national,  social 
and  personal  advancement,  the  evident  limitation  and  in- 
completeness of  human  attainments  call  for  the  second  advent 
of  Christ,  to  bring  the  imperfect  to  perfection  and  to  give  to 
the  ideal  of  human  development  its  full  realization.  It  is 
necessary  also,  that  the  glory  and  dominion  of  the  Eedeemer 
shall  be  universally  manifested  on  this  earth  which  has 
witnessed  his  deepest  humiliation,  and  that  the  king  shall 
hold  a  triumphant  entrance  into  his  kingdom,  after  it  has 
been  fully  established.  The  apostolic  writing,  therefore, 
urges  the  second  coming  of  Christ  upon  the  attention  of 
Christian  people  as  a  motive  to  patience,  joy  and  holy  living, 
and  an  event  which  should  be  an  object  of  longing  expecta- 
tion, because  it  will  not  only  bring  back  their  Lord  whom 
they  love,  to  be  seen  with  their  own  eyes,  but  with  him  also 
will  bring  their  full  redemption  (Tames  5:8,  Heb.  9  :28). 

2.  Antichrist. 

Christ's  coming,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  apostles, 
18 


274 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


will  be  preceded  by  the  appearing  of  Antichrists.  This 
term  itself,  meaning  both  a  usurper  of  the  name  of  Christ 
and  an  enemy  of  Christ,  occurs  only  in  the  Epistles  of  John, 
but  reference  to  the  Antichrist  is  made  already  in  Matt. 
24:24.  The  word  is  used  to  designate  both  a  tendency  and 
a  ■person.  It  is  first  an  antichristian  spirit  which  we  are  told, 
will  manifest  itself  particularly  in  the  last  times.  For  John 
writes  (I  John  2  :18,  22),  "Little  children,  it  is  the  last  hour; 
and  as  ye  beard  that  antichrist  cometh,  even  now  have  there 
arisen  many  antichrists;  whereby  we  know  that  it  is  the 
last  hour.  .  .  .  "Who  is  the  liar  but  he  that  denieth  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ?  This  is  the  antichrist,  even  be  that  denieth 
the  father  and  the  son;"  and  Paul  testifies  in  I  Tim.  4:1, 
"The  Spirit  saith  expressly,  that  in  later  times  some  shall 
fall  away  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits 
and  doctrines  of  demons,  through  the  hypocrisy  of  men  that 
speak  lies." 

But  the  same  apostle  speaks  of  a  special,  personal  mani- 
festation of  tbis  antichristian  spirit  in  some  man  who  will 
be  a  complete  incarnation  of  evil,  "the  man  of  sin,  the  son 
of  perdition,  he  that  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  against 
all  that  is  called  God  or  that  is  worshipped;  so  that  he 
sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  setting  himself  forth  as  God" 
(II  Thess.  2:3,  4).  The  apostle  must  have  had  some  one 
definitely  in  mind  whose  coming  he  expected  in  tbe  near 
future,  as  be  writes:  "The  mystery  of  lawlessness  doth 
already  work :  only  there  is  one  that  restraineth  now,  until 
he  be  taken  out  of  the  way.  And  then  shall  be  revealed  the 
lawless  one,  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  slay  with  the  breath 
of  his  mouth  and  bring  to  naught  by  the  manifestation  of 
his  coming"  (II  Thess.  2:7,  8). 

These  words  in  connection  with  the  prophecy  in  Daniel 
about  the  "little  horn"  and  the  man  "who  shall  exalt  him- 
self, and  magnify  himself  above  every  God"  (Dan.  7  :25  and 
11 :36),  and  in  connection  with  certain  apocalyptic  visions 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


275 


in  the  book  of  Revelation,  have  excited  the  attention  of  Bible 
readers  and  Christians  in  general,  throughout  all  the  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era.  The  general  opinion  was  for  a 
long  time,  that  the  Antichrist  would  be  some  prominent 
man,  in  Church  or  State,  and  successive  centuries  found  per- 
sonalities that  fitted  their  ideas  of  the  character  and  action 
of  the  Antichrist;  among  them  particularly  some  of  the 
popes.  The  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  almost  with- 
out exception,  applied  the  term  not  to  any  one  individual 
but  to  the  papacy,  as  a  power  that,  as  they  declared,  was  sup- 
ported "by  lying  wonders,  persecuting  the  saints  and  sitting 
in  the  temple  of  God  as  a  God."  Later,  the  combination 
presented  in  the  vision  of  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  Revela- 
tion of  a  woman  sitting  on  a  beast  with  ten  horns,  was  in- 
terpreted as  indicating,  that  the  Antichrist  would  be  both  an 
ecclesiastical  and  a  secular  power.  The  woman  should  stand 
for  the  apostate  Church,  the  beast  which  at  first  supports  and 
then  hates  the  woman  (Rev.  19),  should  represent  the  anti- 
christian  state  persecuting  the  Church,  either  in  despotism 
or  anarchy. 

Looking  at  the  past,  without  passing  judgment  upon  any 
particular  persons  or  representatives,  we  may  well  say  that 
antichristian  powers  have  been  at  work,  both  without  and 
within  the  Church,  manifesting  themselves  in  a  bitter  hatred 
of  every  thing  Christian  and  sometimes  in  a  bigotry  which 
makes  a  false  pretence  of  religion.  We  must  expect  such 
antichristian  manifestations  to  continue  to  the  end  of  this 
Christian  dispensation  and  perhaps,  as  during  the  time  of 
the  earthly  ministry  of  Christ,  showing  itself  again  more  in 
open  hostility  or  in  one  and  another  kind  of  demoniacal 
possession.  It  may  well  be  that,  as  we  read  of  Judas  that 
Satan  entered  into  him,  taking  full  possession  of  his  spirit, 
so  there  may  be  some  man  in  whom  sin  and  the  devil  will 
become  so  impersonated,  as  to  make  him  a  Satan  revealed  in 
human  form ;  just  as  in  Jesus  Christ  the  true  God  was  made 


276 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


manifest  to  men.  As  in  Christ,  the  mediator  between  God 
and  man,  redeemed  humanity  has  been  reunited  with  God, 
so,  it  may  be,  those  who  serve  sin  and  the  devil  will,  by  this 
incarnation  of  Satan,  become  fully  identified  with  him  unto 
judgment. 

3.  Universal  Proclamation  of  the  Gospel. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  a  word  from  Christ  himself 
saying,  that  the  end  shall  not  come  until  the  Gospel  has  first 
been  proclaimed  in  every  land  and  to  every  people,  as  it  is 
written  in  Matt.  24:14:  "This  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall 
be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  for  a  testimony  unto  all 
the  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end  come."  That  does  not 
saj,  that  all  the  heathen  will  be  christianized  or  all  the 
Mohammedans  individually  shall  accept  Christ  as  their 
Saviour ;  but  the  proclamation  is  to  be  made  everywhere  and 
to  all  mankind  for  a  testimony,  either  unto  salvation  or  unto 
condemnation.  By  the  commission  given  to  the  Church: 
"Go  ye,  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations," 
it  has  become  a  solemn  duty  and  a  precious  privilege  for 
Christian  people  to  help  the  Mission  cause  and  thus  to  hasten 
the  day  when  Christ  shall  return,  because  "the  kingdom  of 
the  world  is  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever"  (Rev.  11:15). 

The  general  christianization  of  the  world,  naturally,  in- 
cludes the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  as  Paul  declares  in  Rom. 
11 :25,  27,  "A  hardening  in  part  hath  befallen  Israel,  until 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in  and  so  all  Israel  shall 
be  saved,  even  as  it  is  written,  There  shall  come  out  of  Zion 
the  deliverer ;  He  shall  turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob : 
and  this  is  my  covenant  unto  them,  when  I  shall  take  away 
their  sins."  In  accord  with  this  expectation,  we  have 
Christ's  own  prediction :  "Your  house  is  left  unto  you  deso- 
late. For  I  say  unto  you.  Ye  shall  not  see  me  henceforth, 
till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord"  (Matt.  23:39). 


PART  SIXTH — FINAL  THINGS. 


277 


As  to  the  future  of  the  Hebrew  race  in  general  and  their 
relation  to  the  final  establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
various  ideas  have  been  expressed,  such  as :  a.  The  Jews  will 
be  converted  to  Christ  and  then  be  restored  to  Palestine, 
there  to  live,  a  chosen  people  of  God,  as  of  old.  b.  They  will 
return  to  Palestine  unconverted,  restore  the  Old  Testament 
ritual  and  become  the  foremost  nation  of  the  earth,  c.  There 
will  be  no  such  general  return  and  no  restoration  of  the 
Hebrew  nation  as  such.  The  converted  Jews  will  be  merged 
into  the  Christian  Church,  as  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  and 
since. 

If  in  the  attempt  of  forecasting  the  future,  the  New 
Testament  is  taken  as  a  guide,  we  shall  find  very  little  that 
would  point  to  any  lasting  prerogative  of  the  Jews  as  a 
chosen  race.  St.  Paul,  notwithstanding  his  emphasizing  the 
exalted  mission  of  the  Hebrews  in  the  past,  sees  the  glory 
of  the  gospel  dispensation  in  the  very  fact  that  in  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  there  shall  be  no  distinction  between  Jew  and 
Gentile  (Rom.  4:16,  17,  Gal.  5:6).  The  children  of  God 
are  the  seed  of  Abraham  and  the  true  Israel  (Rom.  9 :8, 
Ephes.  2  :14,  19)  ;  the  Gentile  believers  are  built  up,  together 
with  the  Jews,  into  one  spiritual  temple  of  God.  It  should 
be  noted,  that  the  Apocalypse,  which  otherwise  has  so  much 
of  the  Old  Testament  coloring,  has  remarkably  little  to  say 
about  a  special  future  of  the  Jews,  (compare  chap.  7  :4-8,  etc.). 

The  impression  is  different  when  we  turn  to  the  Old 
Testament  prophecy.  While  it  has  been  customary,  for  a 
long  time,  to  understand  and  to  interpret  all  the  prophecies 
foretelling  the  restoration  of  Israel  as  applying  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church  and  her  spiritual  glory,  the  obvious  impression 
produced  by  many  of  these  predictions  is  that  they  refer 
to  the  future  of  the  Hebrew  race.  Some  of  the  leading 
passages  here  are:  Isa.  11:11-16  and  61:  4-6;  66:19,  20; 
Jerem.  31:38-40;  Ezek.  36:24-28,  37:24-25;  Amos  9:11-15. 
Some  of  these  predictions,  no  doubt,  have  been  fulfilled  by 


278 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


the  return  of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonish  exile,  some  in 
the  days  of  the  Maccabees  and  in  the  days  of  the  founding 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Some  are  being  fulfilled  at  the 
present  day 

A  literal  fulfillment,  however,  of  the  remainder  would 
seem  to  imply  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  and  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  ritual;  contrary  to  the  truth  that 
there  is  no  further  need  of  sacrifices.  Besides,  Israel's 
restoration  in  several  passages  is  represented  in  connection 
with  a  condition  of  affairs  which  no  longer  exists  and  with 
a  reference  to  neighbors,  like  the  Philistines  and  Edomites, 
that  makes  a  literal  fulfilment  impossible.  Again,  a  lasting 
superiority  of  the  remnant  of  the  Hebrew  race  would  mean 
an  exaltation  of  that  portion  of  Israel  which  hardened  itself 
against  the  Gospel  and  thus  remained  separate,  while  the 
best  portion  of  the  ancient  covenant  people,  all  those  who  in 
the  course  of  centuries  accepted  Christ,  have  become  identi- 
fied with  the  Gentile  Church  and  the  Christian  people. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  special  future  for  the  Jews  as  a 
nation  is  not  excluded.  If  in  the  early  days  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  later  the  Germans  and 
Anglo-Saxons  have  been  given  the  position  at  the  head  of 
all  Christian  nations,  it  cannot  be  deemed  impossible,  that 
the  converted  people  of  Israel  may  yet  come  to  hold  a  place 
among  the  Gentiles  similar  to  that  which  it  occupied  of 
old  (Compare  Acts  3  :20,  21  and  1 :6,  7)  ;  not,  indeed,  in  the 
sense  of  being  a  mediator  of  salvation  to  the  others,  but  by 
developing  the  special  gifts  and  graces  which  seem  to  be 
entrusted  to  this  people.  Recent  events  have  made  the  ful- 
filment of  certain  Old  Testament  prophecies  to  that  effect 
not  improbable. 

4.  The  Coming  of  Christ. 
Apparently  at  an  unexpected  time,  Christ  will  come  to 
this  earth,  visibly  and  bodily.    He  told  his  disciples  :  "As 
the  lightning  cometh  forth  from  the  east,  and  is  seen  even 


PART  SIXTH — FINAL  THINGS. 


279 


unto  the  west,  so  shall  be  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man" 
(Matt.  24:27).  Christians  are  urged  to  watch  for  his  ap- 
pearing, because  the  day  and  the  hour  will  not  be  known 
beforehand.  "Be  ye  also  ready:  for  in  an  hour  that  ye 
think  not  the  Son  of  man  cometh"  (Luke  12:40).  At  the 
same  time  we  are  told,  that  when  Christ  comes  this  fact  will 
at  once  be  known  to  all  (Luke  17 :24).  He  will  come  in  his 
kingly  glory.  The  risen  saints  will  come  with  him  and  the 
believers  on  earth,  as  Paul  tells  us,  will  be  "changed,"  so 
as  to  be  made  ready  to  meet  their  glorified  Lord.  This  is 
the  general  prospect  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  his 
"parousia,"  manifestation  or  revelation,  as  the  apostles  call  it. 

As  to  the  manner  of  his  coming,  we  read  in  Matt.  24 :30, 
"And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in 
heaven !  and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn  and 
they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  on  the  clouds  of 
heaven  with  power  and  great  glory."  The  sign  of  the  Son 
of  man  has  been  interpreted  by  some  to  be  the  star  of  Beth- 
lehem which  the  Magi  saw,  or  the  light  cloud  (Shechina) 
which  marked  Jehovah's  presence  at  Israel's  sanctuary,  or 
the  figure  of  the  cross,  or  finally  the  mark  of  the  pierced 
side  on  Christ's  person,  because  of  Zechariah  12 :10  and 
John  19  :37,  "They  shall  look  on  him  whom  they  pierced." 
However,  this  as  well  as  other  signs  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  coming  of  Christ,  such  as  "flaming  fire,  the 
trump  of  God  and  the  voice  of  the  archangel"  (I  and  II 
Thess.),  must  for  the  present  remain  hieroglyphs,  for  the 
proper  understanding  of  which  the  key  is  still  wanting. 

Chapter  L.    The  End  of  this  World  and  the  Final 
Destiny  of  All. 

1.  Regeneration  of  the  Earth. 
With  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  end  of  the  present 
dispensation,  the  earth  also  which  we  inhabit  shall,  in  its 
present  state  at  least,  come  to  an  end.    It  will  not  be  de- 


280 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTEINE. 


stroyed  or  annihilated,  but  regenerated  and  transformed, 
like  the  human  body.  In  II  Pet.  3  :7,  10,  we  are  taught,  that 
"the  heavens  that  now  are  and  the  earth  have  been  stored 
up  for  fire,  being  reserved  against  the  day  of  judgment  and 
destruction  of  ungodly  men,. .  .and  the  earth  and  the  works 
that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up."  But  the  same  letter 
adds :  "According  to  his  promise,  we  look  for  new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth,  Wherein  dwelleth  righteousness"  (II  Pet. 
3:13). 

What,  according  to  the  teachings  of  geology,  has  happened 
in  the  past,  may  happen  again  in  the  future,  viz.,  an  over- 
throw of  the  surface  of  the  earth  resulting  in  a  transforma- 
tion at  least  of  this  planet.  As  we  are  taught,  that  this 
present  world  of  ours  has  become  involved  in  the  consequen- 
ces of  the  Fall  of  Adam,  it  is  but  rational  to  expect,  that  it 
will  likewise  share  in  the  redemption  of  the  human  race. 
That  is  what  Paul  anticipated  in  Rom.  8  :20,  21,  when  he 
says:  "For  the  creation  was  subjected  to  vanity,  not  of  its 
own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  subjected  it,  in  hope  that 
the  creation  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage 
of  corruption  into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  children 
of  God."  In  Christ's  discourse,  as  recorded  in  Matt.  19  :28, 
it  i3  called  a  regeneration  or  new  birth,  and  Peter  speaks  of 
a  "restoration  of  all  things."  Who  knows,  but  that  this 
renovated  or  regenerated  earth  may  be  a  part  of  that  king- 
dom which  has  been  prepared  for  God's  people  "from  the 
foundation  of  the  world?"  (Matt.  25:34.) 

2.  The  Question  of  Universal  Restoration. 

With  the  end  of  our  present  world,  the  eternal  age  begins. 
Here  the  question  recurs,  whether  the  consummation  of  all 
things  and  the  complete  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  does  not  also  imply  a  universal  restoration  of  all  fallen 
creatures,  to  the  state  of  happiness  and  holiness.  Hopes  to 
that  effect  have  been  expressed  from  the  days  of  Origen  to 
the  present  time,  the  Universalists  making  it  the  prominent 


PART  SIXTH — FINAL  THINGS. 


281 


feature  of  their  teaching,  that  at  last  all  creatures,  however 
sinful  they  may  be,  whether  men  or  devils,  shall  be  purged 
from  guilt  and  enter  into  the  mansions  of  the  blessed. 
The  main  arguments  in  support  of  this  belief  are: 

a.  If  the  evil,  and  sin,  did  not  exist  from  the  beginning, 
they  cannot  last  forever.  Man  created  in  the  image  of  God 
cannot  forever  persist  in  sinning;  he  must  eventually  return 
to  his  creator.  But  consider,  that  sin  as  well  as  righteous- 
ness are  not  mere  natural  attributes  and  qualities,  but  are 
personal  matters.  The  freedom  of  choice  which  is  the 
essential  characteristic  of  humanity  and  the  essence  of 
holiness,  involves  the  possibility  of  a  permanent  choosing 
of  evil  on  the  part  of  the  creature. 

b.  It  is  thought  irreconcilable  with  the  love  and  justice  of 
God,  that  any  creature  should  be  condemned  forever.  Sins 
committed  in  time  can  only  be  punished  within  the  limit  of 
time,  not  by  an  endless  penalty;  and  shall  not  the  Almighty 
and  all-loving  Father  finally  overcome  all  sinful  resistance 
of  the  creatures,  so  as  to  reconcile  them  to  Himself?  But, 
according  to  Scripture,  those  who  will  be  finally  condemned 
are  those  who  have  become  wholly  identified  with  sin.  Hence 
God's  holy  love,  being  an  absolute  hatred  of  sin,  can  but 
consume  the  sinner  who  definitely  rejects  the  salvation  that 
was  offered.  "Eternal  punishment"  then  is  not  so  much 
punishment  for  sins  committed  in  the  past,  as  the  vindica- 
tion and  manifestation  of  God's  holiness  toward  continued 
sin  and  wickedness. 

c  Again,  it  is  urged  that  the  existence  of  the  condemned 
will  be  incompatible  with  the  happiness  of  the  blessed.  To 
know  that  any  one  should  be  in  torment  who  was  related  by 
ties  of  blood  or  bonds  of  friendship,  would  mar  the  felicity 
of  the  children  of  God.  However,  with  them  who  inherit 
the  future  kingdom,  earthly  relations  and  affections  cer- 
tainly can  continue  only  so  far  as  the  spiritual  connection 
remains.    The  holy  affection  of  the  saints  in  glory,  like 


282 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


God's  own  love,  can  feel  no  sympathy  for  sin  and  for  those 
who  are  openly  declared  the  enemies  of  God.  (See  I  Cor. 
16:22.) 

d.  Finally,  there  are  certain  declarations  of  Scripture, 
especially  in  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  which  appear  to  favor  a 
final  salvation  of  all,  such  as  Col.  1 :19,  20,  "It  was  the  good 
pleasure  of  the  Father.  .  .  through  him  to  reconcile  all  things 
unto  himself;"  Rom.  11:32,  "For  God  hath  shut  up  all  unto 
disobedience,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all;"  Phil. 
2  :10,  "That  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of 
things  in  heaven,  and  things  on  earth  and  things  under  the 
earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  Lord."  But  these  passages  clearly  give  the  objective  aspect 
of  unlimited  salvation,  not  the  subjective  use  and  the  outcome 
from  it. 

On  the  other  hand  the  scriptural  testimony  against  the 
belief  in  a  universal  restoration  of  sinful  creatures  is  posi- 
tive and  conclusive.  Not  so  much  in  the  Old  as  in  the  new 
Testament,  after  the  love  and  mercy  of  God  have  been  fully 
revealed  in  the  giving  of  his  only  begotten  son  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  world,  is  the  awful  danger  of  eternal  condemnation 
of  the  sinner  most  clearly  set  forth.  Not  to  Paul  and  Peter, 
but  to  Christ  the  Saviour  himself  are  attributed  the  most  sol- 
emn warnings  of  Matt.  25  :41,  46,  "Depart  from  me  ye  cursed, 
into  the  eternal  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels ;  .  .  .and  these  Shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment ;" 
and  Mark  9  :47,  48,  "It  is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  with  one  eye,  rather  than  having  two  eyes 
to  be  cast  into  hell,  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire 
is  not  quenched."  Note,  furthermore,  the  testimony  concern- 
ing the  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit  which  "shall  not  be  for- 
given, neither  in  this  world,  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come" 
(Matt.  12:32),  and  the  declaration  concerning  Judas:  "Good 
were  it  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been  born"  (Matt.  26 :25). 
If  any  one  contends  that  the  Greek  word  for  eternal(aicovio5), 


PAKT  SIXTH — FINAL  THINGS. 


283 


strictly  speaking,  means  only  "age-long"  and  that  in  Heb. 
9  :26  we  read  of  the  "end  of  the  ages,"  we  must  reply  that 
the  same  word  certainly  is  used  to  express  the  duration  of  the 
happiness  of  the  blessed  (Matt.  25:46)  and  the  eternal 
existence  of  God  himself. 

3.  The  Question  of  Annihilation. 
If  the  revealed  Word  forbids  the  assumption  of  the  final 
restoration  of  the  wicked,  may  we  look  forward  to  a  time 
when  all  that  is  evil  will  be  annihilated?  In  favor  of  an 
affirmative  reply  to  this  question,  the  following  arguments 
can  be  presented : 

a.  Scripture  passages  like  I  Cor.  15 :26,  28,  "The  last 
enemy  that  shall  be  abolished  is  death ;  .  .  .that  God  may  be 
all  in  all,"  as  implying  that,  if  the  world's  history  is  not  to 
continue  in  disharmony,  the  evil  must  be  annihilated. 

b.  After  an  adequate  retribution  has  overtaken  the  wicked, 
their  further  existence  seems  without  purpose. 

c  Endless  existence  of  a  creature  cut  off  from  the  source  of 
life,  which  is  God,  seems  impossible.  If  eternal  life  is  an 
ever  increasing  manifestation  of  the  divine  power  given  to 
the  children  of  God,  must  not  eternal  death  end  in  the  ex- 
tinction of  being  for  the  ungodly? 

d.  If  the  essence  of  human  existence  lies  in  individual 
consciousness  and  in  personal  morality,  will  not  the  loss  of 
these  be  a  virtual  annihilation  of  being?  If  so  many  men 
already  in  this  present  life,  through  vice  or  self-indulgence, 
seem  to  have  lost  their  individual  and  moral  consciousness, 
will  not  the  "second  death"  (Rev.  21 :8)  of  these  mean  the 
dissolution  of  the  soul  itself? 

Whatever  weight  the  foregoing  considerations  and  argu- 
ments may  have  with  regard  to  personal  convictions  or 
hopes,  they  do  not  avail  for  setting  aside  the  emphatic 
declarations  of  Scripture,  which  warn  the  sinner  against 
incurring  the  penalty  of  eternal  punishment.  It  is  a  proper 
part  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  to  declare  the  doctrine 


284 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


of  eternal  punishment,  not  as  the  highest  motive  but  as  an 
important  motive  for  the  renunciation  of  sin  and  for  ac- 
cepting the  Saviour,  as  Jude  writes:  "On  some  have  mercy, 
who  are  in  doubt  and  some  save,  snatching  them  out  of  the 
fire"  (v.  23).  The  preaching  which  ignores  the  fear  of 
future  condemnation,  lowers  the  holiness  of  God  and  the 
value  of  the  redeeming  work  of  Christ,  who  suffered  and 
died  to  save  from  sin. 

We  are  exhorted  to  give  "the  more  diligence  to  make  our 
calling  and  election  sure"  (II  Pet.  1 :10)  and  to  work  out 
our  "own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling;  for  it  is  God 
who  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his  good 
pleasure"  (Phil.  2:12,  13).  As  for  the  rest,  we  have  the 
assurance  that  the  love  and  wisdom  of  God  manifested  in 
Christ  through  the  Holy  Spirit  will  leave  nothing  undone, 
to  save  all  who  want  to  be  saved. 


PART  SIXTH  FINAL  THINGS. 


285 


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Philippi.    Kirchliche  Glaubenslehre,  1867. 
Plitt,  Hermann.    Evangelische  Glaubenslehre,  Gotha,  1863. 

Gnade  und  Wahrheit  in  Christo  Jesu,  1883. 
Ritschl,  A.    Theologie  und  Metaphysik,  Bonn,  1881. 
Eothe.    Dogmatik,  Tubingen,  1870. 
Schaff,  Phil.    The  Creeds  of  Christendom,  1877. 
Schleiermacher.    Der  christliche  Glaube,  Berlin,  1821. 
Schultz,  Herman.    Old  Testament  Theology,  tr.  Edinburg, 

1892. 

Schultze,  Aug.    The  Theology  of  Peter  and  Paul,  Bethlehem, 
1896. 

Spangenberg,  Aug.  G.    Idea  Fidei  Fratrum  1782,  Engl.  tr. 

London,  1784. 
Stearns,  L.  F.    Present  Day  Theology,  London,  1893. 
Stevens,  G.  B.    Theology  of  the  New  Testament,  New  York, 

1899. 

Strauss,  Fried.     Die  christliche  Glaubenslehre  Tubingen, 
1840. 

Strong,  Aug.  H.    Systematic  Theology,  Rochester,  1886. 
Zinzendorf,  Ludw.  v.    Theologie,  dargestellt  von  Hermann 

Plitt.     Zinzendorf,   Philosophie   und   Kirchentum,  von 

Bernhard  Becker,  1886. 
Zwingli.    Commentarius  de  vera  et  falsa  religione,  1525. 


Unoer  of  5ub|ect0, 


A 

Abelard,  Peter,  2,  23. 

Abraham's  bosom,  242. 

Adventists,  268. 

Agnosticism,  meaning  of,  6. 

Almighty,  attribute  of  God,  35. 

Ancient  Church,  on  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, 232. 

Angels,  existence  of,  51;  nature, 
52;  relation  to  man,  53;  work 
and  employment,  54;  value  of 
doctrine,  55. 

Annihilation,  arguments  for  and 
against,  283. 

Anselm  of  Canterbury,  23;  on  re- 
demption, 137. 

Anthropological  argument,  8. 

Antichrist,  273;  antichristian 
spirit,  274;  impersonation  of 
Satan,  275. 

Antiquity  of  man,  57. 

Apocryphal  books,  20. 

Apollinarianism,  115. 

Apologetic  theology,  3. 

Apostles'  Creed,  21. 

Arius,  teaching  about  Christ,  22,  40. 

Arminius,  J.,  24;  no  imputation, 
85;  on  predestination,  98. 

Ascension  of  Christ,  129. 

Assurance,  of  present  and  final  sal- 
vation, 189. 

Athanasian  creed,  22. 

Atheism,  6. 

Atonement    of    Christ,     aspects  of, 

135;  not  limited,  140. 
Attributes  of  God,  33;  communion 

of  attributes  in   Christ,  113. 
Augsburg  Confession,  24. 
Augustine,    St.,    22;    on  knowledge 

of   God,    31;    on   sacraments,  213, 

217;   on  millennium,  267. 
Authenticity     and      authority  of 

Bible,  IS. 

Awakening  call,  addressed  to  all, 
148. 


B 

Baptism,  meaning  of  word,  218; 
origin  and  significance,  219;  con- 
ditions, 221.  Infant  baptism,  222; 
meaning,  224. 

Beatitudes,  the,  153. 

Beelzebub,  70. 


Believer,  condition  after  death, 
246. 

Benefits,  of  the  Holy  Communion, 
234. 

Bengel,  J.  A.,  on  millennium  and 
return  of  Christ,  268. 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  23. 

Besetting  sins,  165;  war  against 
them,  172. 

Bible,  as  standard  of  doctrine,  13; 
interpretation,  20;  teaching  on  the 
Trinity,  37;  in  hands  of  Chris- 
tians, as  means  of  grace,  212. 

Biblical  theology,  3. 

Birth,  supernatural  of  Christ,  117; 
illustrating  salvation,  146;  and  re- 
generation, 158. 

Blessed,  final  state  of  the,  262;  per- 
fect life,  262. 

Bodily  presence  of  Christ,  130;  in 
Holy  Communion,  234. 

Body,  valuation  of,  252;  resurrec- 
tion body,  255;  identity,  257; 
connection  with  present  body,  257. 

Bohemian  Brethren,  23. 

Books  of  the  Bible,  14;  books  of 
reference,  285. 

Bunyan,  John,  25. 


c 

Call   to    salvation    by    Gospel,  148; 

inward     and     effectual     call,  149; 

special,  150. 
Calvin,    24;    on    predestination,  98; 

perseverance   of  saints,    187;  Holy 

Communion,  233. 
Candidates    for     Holy  Communion, 

235. 

Canon  of  the  Bible,  14. 

Catholic,  Roman,  view  of  the 
Church,  192;  the  true  Catholic 
Church,  201. 

Change  of  heart,  158. 

Children,  to  be  baptized,  227;  not 
admitted  to  Holy  Communion,  235. 

Christ,  Jesus  the,  109;  divine- 
human,  112;  the  greatest  prophet, 
132;  the  true  priest,  134;  a  king, 
142;  our  pattern,  175. 

Christian  virtues,  172. 

Church,  the,  192;  divine-human, 
193;  merits  of  visible  Church,  195; 
national  and  independent,  196; 
relation  to  state,  198;  Church  and 
sects,  201;  creeds,  202;  govern- 
ment,   209;    the   future   of,  265. 


288  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Close  communion,  236. 

Cocceius  of  Leyden,  84. 

Coetus  vocatorum,  197. 

Coming  of  Christ,  second,  272;  cer- 
tainty, 273;  manner,  278. 

Commandments,  the  ten,  164;  v  of 
Christ,  171,  174. 

Commercial  aspect  of  atonement, 
136. 

Communicant  members  of  Church, 
229. 

Communion,  Holy,  229;  institution 
and  observance,  229;  controversy 
on  "body  and  blood,"  232;  bene- 
fits of,  234;  proper  candidates,  235. 

Conditional  redemption,  98. 

Conferential  government,  in  Church, 
209. 

Confession    of    sin,    181;     of  faith, 

202;  Roman  sacrament,  213. 
Confirmation,  the  rite  of,  228. 
Conflicts  of  the  Christian,  163. 
Conscience,  8. 
Constance,  council  of,  232. 
Constantinople,  council  of,  41. 
Consummation  of  all  things,  265. 
Conversion,    not   after   death,  248; 

of  the  Jews,  276. 
"Corpus  C.hristi,"  232. 
Cosmological  argument,  8. 
Covenants,  the  two,  of  works,  101; 

of  grace,  102. 
Creation,    meaning    and    object  of, 

44-45;   creation  of  soul,  61. 
Creeds,    what   they   should   be,  202; 

on  future  life,  243. 
Criterion  of  a  true  Church,  199. 
Crowns,  future,  to  be  gained,  263. 


D 

Damascus,  John  of,  22. 
Daniel,  on  the  "Son  of  man,"  107. 
Darwin,  C,  the  "Origin  of  Species," 
28. 

Day,  the,  of  the  Lord,  259. 

Death,  physical,  punishment  for  sin, 
94;  Christ's  death,  123;  second 
death,  95,  283. 

Decalogue,  transitory  and  abiding, 
174-175. 

Decrees,  divine,  50. 

Degrees  of  punishment,  92;  of  fu- 
ture  glory,  263. 

Deism,  meaning  of,  6;  in  England, 
25. 

Denominations,  right  of  existence, 
201. 

Dkparted,  prayer  for  or  by  them, 
185;  contact  with  world  of  man, 
247;  place  of  departed  spirits,  252. 

Depravity,  inherited,  80;  reference 
to  infant  baptism,  225. 

Descartes,  Rene,  25. 

Descent  to  Hades,  Christ's,  123. 


Devil,    nature    of,    70;    relation  to 

Christians,  72. 
Devout  men,  patterns  of  holy  living, 

176. 

Diatessaron,  21. 
Didache,  of  twelve  apostles,  21. 
Discipline,  in  the  Church,  210. 
Divine,     revelation,     9;     nature,  in 

Christ  manifested,  119. 
Dogmatics,  meaning  of,  1. 
Dort,  Synod  of,  24. 
Dualism,  6. 


E 

Early    expectations,     concerning  re- 
turn of  Christ,  266. 
Earth,  regeneration  of,  280. 
Earthly  life  of  Christ,  120. 
Ebionitism,  115. 

Ecclesia  and  Church,  194;  eccles- 
iastical usages  in  baptism,  222. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  26. 

Elect,  the,  did  Christ  die  for  them 
only?  140. 

Elements,  the,  in  the  sacraments, 
216. 

Essentials  of  the  Church,  199; 
essential  to  the  sacraments,  215. 

Eternal,  God  is,  34;  Christ's  King- 
dom, 142;  eternal  life  through 
communion  with  Christ,  240;  eter- 
nal punishment,  284. 

Eucharist,  the,  230. 

Eusebius,  14. 

Eutychianism,  116. 

Evangelical,  works  on  theology,  28. 

Evidences  of  Divine  revelation,  11. 

Evil  spirits,  existence,  67;  origin  of 
evil,  68;  nature  of  evil  spirits,  70; 
activity,  71;  relation  to  Christians, 
72. 

Evolution  and  creation,  45. 
Existence   of   God,   7;    denial  and 
evidences,  8. 


F 

Faith,    need    of,    155;     elements  of, 

155;  object,  156;  author,  157. 
Fall  of  man,  77;  effects,  78;  can  a 

believer  "fall  away,"  187. 
Family,  the  human,  65. 
Father,  God  the,  38;  prayer  to,  183; 

fathers  m  Christ,  167. 
Federal  head  theory,  84. 
Federation   of  Churches,  208. 
Fellowship   with   Christ,    160;  need 

of  Christian,    192;   as  a   means  of 

grace,  211. 
"Filioque,"  the  spirit  proceeding,  41. 
Filled  with  the  Spirit,  168. 
Final  state  of  the  blessed,  262. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


289 


Flesh,  the  natural  man,  80;  war 
against  the  flesh,  164. 

"Foot  washing"  considered  a  sacra- 
ment, 214. 

Forty  days,  Christ's  manifestations, 
128. 

Francke,  A.  H.,  26. 
Fulfilment  of  prophecy,  successive, 
267. 

Fullness  of  Time,  the,  108. 


Gehenna,  242;  valley  of  Hinnom, 
264. 

Gentiles,  prepared  for  salvation, 
103. 

Glacial  period,  58. 

Glory,  the  Kingdom  of,  143;  future 

degrees  of,  263. 
Gnosticism,  115. 

God,  necessary  object  of  religion,  6; 
existence,  7;  oneness,  31;  person- 
ality, 32. 

Good  works,  necessity,  169;  what  are 
good  works?  170. 

Gospel,  call  to  salvation,  148;  mo- 
tive to  repentance.  154;  those  who 
have  not  heard  it,  248;  judged  by 
the  Gospel,  261;  universally  pro- 
claimed before  the  end,  276. 

Grace,  covenant  of,  103;  kingdom  of, 
143;  state  of,  161;  falling  from, 
187;  means  of  grace,  211. 

GREEK-Catholic  confession,  24;  sepa- 
ration, 41. 

Gregory,  bishop  and  pope,  on  "mass," 
232;  on  purgatory,  243. 

Guardian   Angels,  55. 

Guilt,  personal,  86. 


Hinnom,  264. 
Higher  criticism,  29. 
Highpriestly  intercession  of  Christ, 
141. 

Historical  theology,  3;  argument  for 

immortality,  237. 
History  of  Christian  doctrine,  21. 
Holy,    God,    35;    Holy    Spirit,  39; 
dwelling   in   man,    161;    holy  living, 

176;  Holy  Communion,  229. 
Home  mission  work,  206. 
Hostia,  230. 

House  of  God,  need  of,  204. 
Humiliation,  state  of  Christ's,  117. 
Hus,  John,  23. 

Hymnbooks,  as  means  of  grace,  212. 


H 

Hades,  Christ's  descent  into,  123; 
the  departed  spirits,  127;  the 
spirit-world,  place  of,  242. 

Harnack,  A.,  29. 

Healing  of  sickness,  by  prayer,  185. 

Hearing  of  prayer,  184. 

Heart,  central  faculty  of  religion,  5; 

hardening  of,  90;  change  of  heart, 

158. 

Heathen,  preparation  for  salvation, 
103;  Gospel  call,  148;  mission 
work  needed,  206;  future  oppor- 
tunity, 250;  judgment  not  without 
Christ,  251. 

Heaven,  Christ's  ascension  to,  129; 
believers  going  to,  246. 

Hebrew  race,  their  future,  277. 

Hegel,  27. 

Heidelberg  Catechism,  24,  125. 
Hell,  "Christ  descended  into,"  124; 
Roman  doctrine  of,  243;  valley  of 


Ignatius,  21. 

Image  of  God  in  man,  62. 

Immersion,  question  of  mode  of  bap- 
tism, 218. 

Immortality  of  soul,  237;  an  axiom 
of  Christian  belief,  237;  rational 
arguments,  237. 

Imputation  of  sin,  theories  of,  83. 

Incarnation,   mystery   of,  119. 

Incentive  to  holy  living,  178. 

Independent  Churches,  196. 

Inductive  method  of  defining  nature 
of  God,  32. 

Indulgences,   doctrine   of,  140. 

Infant  baptism,  222;  Scripture  tes- 
timony, 222;  meaning  of,  224; 
reasons  for  preferring,  226;  whose 
children   to   be  baptized,  227. 

Infants,  their  salvation,  248;  future 
decision,  249. 

Infusion  of  the  divine  life,  225. 

Inspiration  of  the  Bible,  16;  distinc- 
tions and  limitations,  18. 

Integrity  of  Bible  books,  14. 

Intercession  of  Christ  for  us,  141; 
our — for  others,  182. 

Intermediate  state,  opinions  on,  241; 
existence,  244;  nature  of,  244; 
condition  of  believers,  246;  of  un- 
believers, 247. 

Irenaeus,  232. 


Jesus,  the  Messiah   (Christ),  109. 
Jews,   their   conversion,    276;  future 

of  the  race,  277. 
John,  the  Baptist,  107. 
Johannean   way   of    salvation,  162: 

view   of   "perseverance   of  saints," 

Judgment  day,  reality  of,  259; 
grounds  of  judgment,  261;  the  per- 
sons to  be  judged,  260. 


290  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 


Justification   of  sinner,    159;  pre- 
cedes sanctification,  160. 
Justin  Martyr,  232. 


K 

Kant,  I.,  on  conscience,  8;  pure  rea- 
son, 26. 

Kenosis  theory,  119. 

Kind  and  good,  God,  36. 

Kingdom  of  God,  66;  mediatorial 
kingdom,  142;  a  kingdom  of  grace 
and  glory,  143;  future  kingdom, 
265. 

Kingly  office  of  Christ,  142;  Christ 
a  King,  142. 


L 

Language,  primitive,  63. 

Law,  Mosaic,  ohject  of,  105;  motive 

to   repentance,    154;    the    law  of 

liberty,    171;    law    abrogated  and 

permanent,  174. 
Legal  aspect  of  atonement,  136. 
Life,   earthly,  of  Christ,    120;  new 

life  of  Christian,  163;  eternal  life 

pledged  by  Christ,  241. 
Limbus  Infantum,  243. 
Limited  atonement,  140. 
Locality  of  departed   spirits,  251. 
Lombard,  Peter,  23. 
Lord's  Prayer,  183;  supper,  see  Holy 

Communion,  229. 
Lot,  used  to  direct  our  course,  178. 
Love,   God   is,   33;   grateful   love  of 

Christ  incentive  to  holy  living,  179. 
LovE-Feasts,  meaning  of,  212;  before 

Communion,  235. 
Luther,   on  the    Holy  Communion, 

233. 


M 

Man,  his  origin,  56;  evolution  theory, 
57;  nature  of  man,  58;  intellec- 
tual condition,  63;  moral  and 
physical,  64. 

Manifestation  of  Divine  nature  in 
Christ,  119;  manifestation  to  dis- 
ciples after   resurrection,  128. 

Mass,  Roman,  the  meaning  of,  232. 

Matrimony,  not  a  sacrament,  213. 

Means  of  grace,  what  are  they?  211. 

Melanchthon,  24;  on  the  Holy 
Communion,  233. 

Merciful,  God  is,  36. 

Messiah,  promise  of,  105;  Messianic 
prophecies,  106. 

Metaphysical  attributes  of  God,  33; 
argument  for  immortality  of  soul, 


238. 

Method,  the,  of  conversion,  162. 
Methodists,  26. 

Millennium  idea,  267;  objections, 
268;  premillennial  and  postmillen- 
nial  return  of  Christ,  269. 

Miracles,  meaning  of,  49;  possibil- 
ity and  significance,  49. 

Missionary  work,  need  of,  206. 

Mode  of  administering  the  sacra- 
ments, 216. 

Modern  theology,  29. 

Moral  argument  for  immortality, 
238;  attributes   of  God,  33. 

Moravian  Brethren,  23,  26. 

Mosaic  record  of  creation,  46;  Mo- 
saic period,  105. 

Mystery  of  Trinity,  43;  of  the  in- 
carnation, 119. 

Mysticism,  23. 


N 

Name  of  Jesus,  prayer  in  the,  183. 

National  Churches,  196. 

Nature  and  evolution,  45;  of  man, 
58;  divine-human  nature  in  Christ, 
112;  of  resurrection  body,  255. 

Necessity  of  sacraments,  217. 

Need  of  a  standard  of  religion,  13. 

Nestorianism,  115. 

New  School,  New  England,  27,  85. 

New  Testament,  the  canon,  14;  au- 
thenticity, 16;  teaching  on  Trinity, 
38;  standard  of  holy  living,  175; 
on  the  resurrection.  254;  on  future 
of  Hebrew  race,  277. 

Nice,  Council  of,  40. 

Nicene  Creed,  22,  40. 

Nominal  Christians,  their  future, 
249. 


o 

Object  of  religion,  6. 

Offices  of  Christ,  three,  131. 

Old  and  new  man,  164. 

Old  Testament,  canon,  14;  authen- 
ticity, 15:  teaching  on  immortality, 
239;  on  resurrection,  254;  on  future 
of  Hebrew  race,  277. 

Omnipresent,  God   is,  34. 

Omniscient  and  allwise,  God,  35. 

Oneness  of  God,  31. 

Ontological  argument  for  existence 
of  God,  9. 

Ordinances  of  the  Church,  211. 

Ordination,  not  a  sacrament,  213. 

Origen,  on  preexistence,  84;  on 
purgatory,  242. 

Origin,  of  man,  56;  of  individual 
soul,  60;  of  the  rite  of  baptism, 
219. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


291 


Pantheism,  6. 

Papacy,  thought  to  be  Antichrist,  275. 

Paradise,  the  earthly,  65 ;  the  heav- 
enly,  125,  243. 

Patriarchal  period,  104. 

Pauline  way  of  conversion,  162. 

Pelagian  heresy,  81. 

Penalty  of  sin,   the,  92. 

Penance,  for  repentance,  152;  Ro- 
man sacrament,  213. 

Perfection,  sinless,  arguments  for 
and  against  possibility,  168. 

Perseverance,  christian,  186. 

Personal,  guilt,  86;  salvation,  145; 
example  of  holy  living,  175. 

Personality  of  God,  32;  of  man, 
62. 

Peter,  the  pope  as  successor  of,  209. 

Philosophy,  Greek,  on  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body,  253. 

Pietism   in  Germany,  26. 

Place  of  the  departed  spirits,  251. 

Plan  of  salvation,  the,  96. 

Plato,  his  idea  of  a  Trinity,  37. 

Putt,  Herman,  Evangelische  Glau- 
benslehre,  28. 

Polytheism,  6. 

Pope,  declared  infallible  "ex  cathe- 
dra," 209. 

Possession,  by  evil  spirits,  72. 

Postmillen.nial  advent  of  Christ, 
269. 

Praxeas,  39. 

Prayer,  meaning  of,  180;  true 
prayer,  180;  what  to  pray  for, 
181;  the  Lord's  prayer,  182;  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  183;  whom  to  ad- 
dress in  prayer,  183. 

Predestination,  theories  of,  97;  ar- 
guments for  and  against,  98;  prac- 
tical  aspect,  101. 

Preexistence  of  soul,  61;  an  impu- 
tation-theory, 84. 

Premillennial   expectation,,  268. 

Preparation,  time  of,  101 ;  of  gen- 
tiles, 103;  of  Israel,  104;  individual 
preparation  for  salvation,  146;  out- 
side of  Church,  147. 

Presence,  personal,  of  Christ  in  Holy 
Communion,  233. 

Preservation  of  the  world,  47;  of 
believers,  188. 

Priest,  Christ  a  true,  134;  his 
priestly  office,  134. 

Private  communion,  236. 

Probation,  no  second  after  death, 
248. 

Promise  of  the  Messiah,  105. 

Proofs  for  the  existence  of  God,  8. 

Propagation  of  the  human  soul,  61. 

Prophecy,  evidence  of  divine  revel- 
ation, 12;  the  prophetic  period, 
105;  the  promise  of  the  Messiah, 
105. 


Prophet,    Christ    the    greatest,  132; 

Old  Test,  prophets,  106. 
Protestant,     Bible    standpoint,  20; 

view  of  the  Church,  192. 
Providence,    general    and  particular, 

47-48. 

Psychological  argument  for  exist- 
ence of  God,  9. 

Punishment  of  sin,  degrees,  92;  as 
a  means  of  grace,  94;  future,  95; 
question   of  eternal,  281. 

Purgatory,  242;  Roman  Catholic 
doctrine,  243. 


Question,  of  predestination,  97;  of 
sinless  perfection,  168;  of  univer- 
sal restoration,  280. 


Rational   conviction   of    divine  rev- 
elation, 12. 
Rationalism,  25. 
Redemption,  136. 

Reformers,  the,  on  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, 232;  on  the  Millennium 
idea,  268. 

Regeneration,  what  it  means,  158; 
of  the  earth,  279. 

Relation  between  preparation  and 
call  to  salvation,  150. 

Religion,  what  it  is,  4;  derivation 
of  the  term,  4;  false  religions,  6. 

Repentance,  need  of,  151;  wrong 
conception  of  ,152;  the  author  of, 
153;  true  motive,  154. 

Resistance  theory,  as  to  predestina- 
tion, 98. 

Responsibility,  the  human,  85. 

Restoration,  question  of  universal, 
280. 

Resurrection,  of  Christ,  126;  re- 
sults, 127;  of  man,  252;  truth  of 
resurrection,  253;  conditioned  by 
person  and  work  of  Christ,  255; 
nature  of  resurrection  body,  255; 
connection  with  present  body,  257; 
question  of  twofold  resurrection, 
271. 

Return  of  Christ,  early  expectation, 
266;   certainty,   277;   glorious,  273. 

Revelation,  need  of,  10;  given,  11; 
the  Bible  a  record  of,  29;  the  book 
of  Revelation,  266;  the  millennium, 
270;   the  antichrist,  275. 

Revivals,  need  of,  205. 

Righteous  and  true,  God,  36. 

Ritschl,  Albert,  29. 

Ritual,  variety  desirable,  208. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  24;  view  of 


